A Playful Place where All Spaces seamlessly Blend into Each Other

The learning center at The Quest designed by KSM Architecture is located on a 540 sq.m piece of land, about 300m from the seafront in Besant Nagar, Chennai, India. It is intended for children aged 8 to 16 years old. The center acts as a learning and interaction space for largely home-schooled children, or those with the ‘unschooling’ pattern of education, which involves teaching children based on their interests, rather than a set curriculum.

View of west facade
Photo credit:
Sreenag BRS

Amphitheatre space on the ground floor
Photo credit: Sreenag BRS

Classrooms designed with modular shelving systems
Photo credit: Sreenag BRS

It has been designed as a collection of free-flowing volumes that provide a feeling of space and visual connectivity. One gains access to the building through a tree-lined front court that has a set of steps and a ramp. One enters the rectangular building footprint in the center into an atrium-like volume that opens up to the full height of the building, with an amphitheater rising to the right and a gallery space towards the left.

Photo credit: Sreenag BRS

Brightly coloured metal staircase in central atrium
Photo credit: Sreenag BRS

Bamboo textured GFRC and Aluminium louvers
Photo credit: Sreenag BRS

In section, the building opens up towards the south, which is the ambient wind direction in Chennai. The southern side of the site is raised in the form of a garden in order to harness the south breeze, while also taking advantage of a wind channel caused by the extended road beyond the site. The amphitheater connects the arrival space to the library above as a seamless volume overlooking the raised garden on the south.

Bamboo textured GFRC Panels
Photo credit: Sreenag BRS

Lighting design for spiral staircase
Photo credit: Sreenag BRS

The Quest in proximity to the seafront
Photo credit: Sreenag BRS

The garden can be accessed by a slide that begins at the library. Five classrooms are stacked on either side of the central atrium. Inside this atrium, a metal staircase winds its way up, connecting all the levels. At the fourth level, the staircase comes out of the building and faces the dorm of a spiral stair that leads up to a rooftop cafeteria, which in turn opens out into a landscaped terrace on the south.

View of west and south facade from access road
Photo credit: Sreenag BRS

View of south facade from access road
Photo credit: Sreenag BRS

View of south and east facade
Photo credit: Sreenag BRS

From a climate sensitivity standpoint, the eastern and the western walls of the buildings have been designed as insulated cavity walls with minimum opening, while the southern and northern walls have full-length operable windows that allow the ambient south breeze in, and are shaded by vertical aluminum aerofoil shaped louvers. The eastern and western walls are composite 400mm wide, made up of a 300mm wide cavity wall with a 50 mm thick XPS infill as the inner layer, with a bamboo shuttered GFRC facade panel as a self-shading skin with a 25mm air cavity. This insulation system virtually cuts off all the heat that falls on these walls.

Metal spiral staircase extended out of the building
Photo credit:
Sreenag BRS

West entrance and pedestrian ramp
Photo credit: Sreenag BRS

Exterior landscape in western setback
Photo credit: Sreenag BRS

There is a sense of openness, with no clear demarcation of space or volume - every space seamlessly blending with each other and the gardens beyond. The warm glow of glare-free natural light creates a cheerful ambiance, and the sense of fun is accentuated by the use of color, with a natural breeze wafting through the various levels- all of this provides, in our opinion, an ideal platform for learning.

KSM Architecture

KSM Architecture believes in simplicity in design, and roots the design in the environment it is envisaged to be a part of. Founded in 1990, the firm prioritizes ongoing research and innovative experimentation with materials and techniques that promote environmental sustainability. Each project is meticulously crafted to enhance energy efficiency and respond effectively to climatic conditions. As a result, KSM Architecture has garnered both national and international recognition for its environmentally conscious and minimalist architectural approach.