initiative for green habitats

Sparsha Trust, in Bangalore, intended to build a Residential Campus with a Learning Centre for 500 (minimum) underprivileged children. The project was to be housed in a ¾ acre plot (approx) in north west Bangalore, with an additional acre to be added for future expansion. Sparsha Trust works with underprivileged children, who include street children, delinquents, troubled children and those from extremely poor families, or no resources.

We envisaged Nisarga Grama as a sustainable village. One where the children are at ease. One where they develop into sensitive minds who will live their future responsibly. The environs of the village consists of  streets, courts and built masses textured with materials to engage a young child’s explorative and curious mind.

The development strives to provide a stress free environment that is both liberating to a child and at the same time ordered enough to gain his or her respect.  We see the child learning about the built and the un-built growing to nurture this home of theirs as much as it nurtures the children.

The site housed dormitories, the learning centre, dining, kitchen, store and admin offices. Additionally,  mandatory parking was also to be accommodated.

We intended to keep things to a human scale, more importantly a scale that did not intimidate a child. Therefore, it was decided to limit the height of the built to a maximum of 2 floors (which incidentally, tallies with the BIAAPA guidelines for development on agricultural land lots).

Any development would also have to ensure that a minimum number of trees were harmed. Since much of the orientation and learning at Sparsha was through experiential learning, we also included farm activities in a crescent around the west of the campus.