Located in a verdant 1.6-acre campus overlooking the Bellandur Kere, Neev School’s K-12 venture is a medium-sized day school. The centrally located site not only provides a vast, lush environment but also offers a further advantage of proximity to the city’s museums, community centers, etc. Despite the size constraint on the site and large spatial requirements, the design of Neev Academy achieves an optimal balance between the built and unbuilt environment that is anchored into the surrounding context.
The building layout has been planned to foster a positive pedagogical environment, integrating both indoors and outdoors spaces, architecture, and landscape to encourage different learning activities. Master Plan comprises a single block connected at various levels through circulation corridors and terraces. All the classrooms open into large common spaces that help facilitate interaction between students and teachers. The built environment supplements this open and fluid space by providing furniture and play equipment that can be oriented in multiple ways to suit different needs. These spaces encourage students to actively engage with the fabric of their school and activate kinesthetic and spatial learning.
The design is structured around a central courtyard. All the functional spaces, varying from informal casual activities to formal learning environments, look into this central courtyard. Inter-weaved pattern of open and built to allow the children to explore learning in both the environments. All classrooms are naturally lit and ventilated and have dedicated zones for discussion and group activities. Besides traditional sports facilities, landscaped areas provide for unstructured play and recreation. The school cafeteria is designed to seat 400 people with a cooking lab, catering to the curriculum. Bio-terrace alongside the cafeteria is planned as an experimental area for children to grow plants.
Taking into account the multiplicity of interactions that students have with their surroundings and centered on experiential learning, the design of Neev Academy provides for creative thinking; from indoor/outdoor art & sculpture studios, music room, to the various themed spaces like Artocarpus cafe, celebration plaza, bio terrace, sound garden, etc. While the celebration plaza is designed with a playful arrangement of locally available granite blocks, the Artocarpus cafe commemorates an existing jack fruit tree. Stepped seating and sound garden on the ground floor acts as a space to discuss and hold outdoor classes. Collaborative bonding within people and the building. The design of Neev Academy captures the pulse of the vibrant community that this school houses and is a testament to what architecture can do to enhance a school community.
