Kumar La Noce designs an extension to the existing school through a set of light, adaptable spaces for the Kalkeri Sangeet Vidyalaya in turn driving culture, education and community engagement.
Grounded eloquently on the wild landscape of the village of Kalkeri, ‘Kalkeri Sangeet Vidyalaya’ (KVS) sprawls over three acres of land offering free schooling along with an intensive and comprehensive educational programme with an emphasis performing arts. Besides quality education, KVS sponsors food and accommodation and healthcare for all the students – mainly from the resident population of the village of Kalkeri. Founded in 2002, the institution evolved, and the resulting space constraint demanded an extension also to cater to the neighbouring villages. Bengaluru-based Kumar La Noce Architects designed the KVS complex to accommodate new art studios, reading rooms and other supplementary programmes within the constraints of a frugal budget and the short time-frame for execution.
The design of KVS introduces a language – a template that sets out fundamental, sustainable and gentle guidelines to initiate building on the large, wild landscape. The intent of the architects was to create a space for children and the community that is layered and adaptable. The architecture creates this quality public realm offering a range of mixed-use spaces as experiences. Creating a safe, comfortable civic space, the new intervention welcomes the residents within and encourages exchange leading to greater social cohesion. The plan suggests a potential for the campus to expand in response to the future needs.
An emphasis is sensitively laid on the needs of the community. It was also important for the architects to understand the building materials and techniques viable in the context. Using materials and workforce from the vicinity of the site, the construction in itself was intended as a learning process for those involved, teaching them techniques with which to build on their own in the future. In all the new structures, from design to construction and materials, a certain roughness exists.
The extremely light but resilient roofs designed with the consultation of the structural engineer BL Manjunath are a critical component of the project. The two main blocks are designed with a double roof – one vaulted and the other inclined. The ‘eyelets’ in the roof are essentially punctures that help create a passive ventilation cycle. The corrugated metal roof is placed atop the light trusses rather than directly on the walls, prevent the heat from radiating directly into the space below. Abundant air circulation through the roofs and the brick-screen patterns travels along the walls to help maintain a comfortable inside even on the hottest days. The intent was to design a roof that could efficiently integrate performance, character and efficiency in terms of climatic comfort, cost and construction.
Kalkeri Sangeet Vidyalaya illustrates a prototype for an economy that confronts the pressing issue faced by peri-urban communities – the lack of quality civic space. While the visual quality plays an important role in this assimilation of the new within the old, the social impact of the built environment is given an upper hand. The Kalkeri Sangeet Vidyalaya is a response to the realities of the immediate context in which it exists. It is a model for urban offices working within a fairly rural context. The inherent programmatic value of the project is enhanced by the architecture. Kalkeri Sangeet Vidyalaya is an inclusive space that demonstrated the potential of architecture as a catalyst for cultural and social growth⊗
KUMAR LA NOCE is an Indo-Italian architectural practice founded in Bengaluru, India in 2012, by Bhavana Kumar and Nicola La Noce. The studio has worked on projects of various scales including residential, educational, art installations, interior and urban design since its inception. Their work is based on typological reasoning and a need to create evocative spaces informed by pragmatism, culture and collective memory. Their completed works include the Jade House, restaurants for the Crowne Plaza in Bengaluru, a boutique resort in Kerala along with the Kalkeri Sangeet Vidyalaya in Dharwad.
