Learning Center at Quest
Sreenag photography

Learning Center at Quest

KSM Architecture as Architects

The learning center at Quest is located on a 540 sqm piece of land, about 300 m from the seafront in Besant Nagar, Chennai. It is a learning center for children ages 8 to 16 years old. The center acts as a learning and interaction space for largely home-schooled children or those with the ‘unschooling’ pattern of education, which involves teaching children based on their interests rather than a set curriculum.

photo_credit Sreenag photography
Sreenag photography
photo_credit Sreenag photography
Sreenag photography

The learning center has been designed as a collection of free-flowing volumes that give a feeling of space and visual connectivity. One gains access to the building through a tree-lined front court that has a set of steps and a ramp.

photo_credit Sreenag photography
Sreenag photography

One enters the rectangular building footprint in the center into an atrium-like volume that opens up to the full height of the building, with an amphitheater rising to the right and a gallery space towards the left.

photo_credit Sreenag photography
Sreenag photography

In section, the building opens up towards the south which is the ambient wind direction in Chennai. The southern side of the site is raised in the form of a garden in order to harness the south breeze while also taking advantage of a wind channel caused by the extended road beyond the site. The amphitheater connects the arrival space to the library above as a seamless volume overlooking the raised garden on the south.

photo_credit Sreenag photography
Sreenag photography

The garden can be accessed by a slide that begins at the library. Five classrooms are stacked on either side of the central atrium and inside this atrium is a metal staircase that winds its way up connecting all the levels. At the fourth level, the staircase comes out of the building and faces the dorm of a spiral stair that leads up to a rooftop cafeteria which in turn opens out into a landscaped terrace on the south.

photo_credit Sreenag photography
Sreenag photography

From a climate sensitivity standpoint, the easters and the western walls of the buildings have been designed as insulated cavity walls with minimum opening, while the southern and northern walls have full-length operable windows that allow the ambient south breeze in and are shaded by vertical cminum aerofoil shaped louvers.

photo_credit Sreenag photography
Sreenag photography

The eastern and western walls are composite 400mm wide, made up of a 300mm wide cavity wall with a 50 mm thick XPS infill as the inner layer with a bamboo shuttered GFRC facade panel as a self-shading skin with a 25mm air cavity. This insulation system virtually cuts off all the heat that falls on these walls.

photo_credit KSM Architecture
KSM Architecture
photo_credit KSM Architecture
KSM Architecture
Project Credits
Product Spec Sheet

ElementBrand
SuppliersAkshada Aircom
ManufacturersAspire Solutions
ManufacturersFacilini Design Lab
ManufacturersSreevatsa Stainless Steel
Product Spec Sheet
Suppliers
Manufacturers
Manufacturers
Manufacturers
Project Spotlight
Product Spotlight
News
Urban plan for Oostenburg in Amsterdam’s city center combines industrial heritage with urban density
31 Oct 2024 News
Urban plan for Oostenburg in Amsterdam’s city center combines industrial heritage with urban density

The artificial island of Oostenburg is the final large-scale development in Amsterdam’s city c... More

Serene home in Mexico by HW Studio is cocooned in wood and bathed with warm zenithal light
30 Oct 2024 News
Serene home in Mexico by HW Studio is cocooned in wood and bathed with warm zenithal light

Completed in July 2024, Casa Emma was designed by Mexican architectural practice HW Studio. Located... More

ITECH Research Pavilion 2024 demonstrates novel approach to bio-based hybrid architecture
30 Oct 2024 Innovations
ITECH Research Pavilion 2024 demonstrates novel approach to bio-based hybrid architecture

The latest ITECH Research Pavilion project asks the question: “How can technology drive a bala... More

Archello Awards 2024 Finalists – Projects
29 Oct 2024 Archello Awards
Archello Awards 2024 Finalists – Projects

Archello Awards 2024 has revealed the projects nominated as finalists to win each of this year&rsquo... More

Archello Awards 2024 Finalists – Products
29 Oct 2024 Archello Awards
Archello Awards 2024 Finalists – Products

Archello Awards 2024 has revealed the projects nominated as finalists to win each of this year&... More

Archello Awards 2024 Finalists – Firms
29 Oct 2024 Archello Awards
Archello Awards 2024 Finalists – Firms

Archello Awards 2024 has revealed the projects nominated as finalists to win each of this year&... More

De Zwarte Hond completes circular renovation and extension of 1970s Leiden University building
29 Oct 2024 News
De Zwarte Hond completes circular renovation and extension of 1970s Leiden University building

Architectural studio De Zwarte Hond has completed a considered circular renovation and extension of... More

Footbridge-like Villa Sidonius in Czech Republic experiments with architecture and technology
28 Oct 2024 News
Footbridge-like Villa Sidonius in Czech Republic experiments with architecture and technology

Prague-based architectural studio Stempel & Tesar architekti has completed Villa Sidonius, a ste... More