walkeshwar school, mumbai, india by chris lee and kapil gupta
all images courtesy serie architects

a new 2,050sqm addition to the existing walkeshwar school in mumbai
by chris lee and kapil gupta of serie architects is proposed in a tight void sandwiched
between a rock cliff and the existing school. in such a tight and constrained site,
the main challenge for the project is to draw light into building that is bounded on all 3 sides.
the project achieves this by releasing the basic elements of floors, walls, and staircase from
the cliff. the off-setting of the floors from the cliff allows the cliff face to act as a light washer,
drawing light into the interior of the building. the main staircase and atrium of the building
rotates and shifts with the contours of the cliff allowing a circulation route that is always
in contact with the cliff face at different angles, at every turn. this rotation and translation
of the staircase is formally described by a continuous ruled surface, generated from the lines
of parapets, railings, landings and flights of steps.

on the exterior façade, serie architects envisions a building that requires no articulation to
its elevation as the building will not be experienced or viewed from a distance due to
the new building being bounded on all 3 sides. without the problem of the elevation, the floor
slabs are expressed instead as floating planes, hovering between the existing plateau
and the cliff face. this is achieved by setting back the glass line by two metres all around
the periphery of the building and to conceive of a structural system that will allow the visual
continuity from the cliff face to the exterior. our proposal is to use the most basic element of
a school building – the white board – as a structural element. thus the structure is envisioned
as a series of white boards that carries the load from one floor to the next, is orientated to form
the partition walls for each classroom and is aligned perpendicular to the cliff face to allow
visual continuity and light penetration. all other furniture of the school like cabinets and storages
are designed and positioned to ensure that the visual connection from the cliff face to the exterior
is maintained.

the challenge of the project ultimately is in exercising restraint and to solve within extremely
tight confines, the most basic requirement that a building requires – to be able to see natural light
and the exterior.   






































the cliff face


the site of where the school is to be built


the site of where the school is to be built


project info
building type: school
location:  mumbai, india.
gross floor area: 2,050 sqm
site area:  na
date: concept design – september 2006
status: expected completion - 2011
design: chris lee / kapil gupta
credits: serie architects london