The site of this institutional layout rests in the foothills of the Eastern Ghats; with the hillocks as the background, the school’s surroundings are dotted by agricultural lands. Given the topography of the site, the premises are bound to interact with extreme weather conditions. The Ridge School’s component buildings have been designed to create a conducive environment for the end-users, allowing the focus to remain on the process of learning.

The master plan of the Ridge School consists of clusters of rooms that are centered around a focal courtyard each; these clusters are further aligned along the central axis spine forming the circulatory corridor. The linearity of the site is further accentuated by this connective corridor, which connects two ends of the space and becomes the nucleus of activity and communication. Solar shading played a pivotal role in this project’s conceptualisation to respond to the harsh weather the site experiences.

A major volume of the spatial mass was thus created on structural stilts, which shades the area below and creates ample space for extracurricular activities for the students and staff.

The staircase has been conceived as the architectural spine of the school, where it assumes a role much larger than just of a built element. The staircase lies at the core of the design, unifying the various levels and offering itself as a social space within the construct. The employment of materials like adobe bricks, terracotta screens and upcycled wood not only reduces the effective carbon footprint, but also heightens the desirable thermal efficiency of the building.