‘highrange school’

Project Type Institutional Stage Design

Location Thodupuzha, India

Role Associate Architect In Association with DACglobal

A vintage look and feel in terms of spatial design, style, and volumetric feel of spaces complemented by the sheer scale and material usage adds to the functional and aesthetic beauty of the Government model higher secondary school. MKNM HSS Kumaramangalam was established in 1952 when a great visionary Malayattil Ramachandran Nair started an Upper Primary School in Memory of his uncle and a social reformer Malayattil Kesavan Nair, It is located in Thodupuzha block of Idukki district of Kerala.

Ground Floor Plan

The school consisted of Grades from 5 to 12 which was further upgraded to a High School in 1966. In the year 2000 the School again was recognized by the Kerala State Government and got upgraded again to a Higher Secondary School. The 5 blocks of the school are situated around the oldest block, constructed in the 1960’s. A walk through the school premise is a time loop on its own. While the block on the west was constructed in the 1980s the block opposite to the new proposed block was built in 2000. The Government school, having been the host for student festivals, has kept arts alive through the spaces and walls that have enjoyed them far too many times to perform an encore Adaptive usage of the already present heritage structure was the prime focus as the language of architecture blends art and society. As deep as the muthassimavu (Mango tree) plunges its roots through the decades, some blocks of the school have their foundations driven into the earth for almost the same time, ageing only through new branches for the tree and cracks for the structures.