The Rajkumari Ratnavati Girl’s School

This project was selected as a winner in AIA's 2023 Architecture Awards.

In Rajasthan, India—where female literacy hovers around 36% and many families live below the poverty line—the Rajkumari Ratnavati Girl’s School aims to provide a place to learn, play, and flourish. The school, designed by New York–based Diana Kellogg Architects, caters to 400 girls from kindergarten to class 10.

Constructed of local sandstone by area craftsmen, including fathers of students who attend the school, the oval-shaped facility takes its shape from a feminine symbol of strength and blends in seamlessly with its desert surroundings. The area experiences extreme heat, so natural cooling techniques were incorporated into the building’s design. The structure’s modern interpretation of traditional Indian jali screens, for instance, serves a dual purpose: The openings increase wind speed and lower the temperature of the building on the all-too-common hot days, while the feature as a whole acts as a modesty screen, allowing the girls to play uninhibited in the safe space of the courtyard.

Sustainability was also top of mind for the team at Diana Kellogg Architects, which specified solar panels that power the school and double as a jungle gym for students. Additionally, the designers borrowed from ancient harvesting techniques to collect rainwater during monsoon season, providing the school with running water year-round.

PROJECT CREDITS
Project: The Rajkumari Ratnavati Girl’s School, Rajasthan, India
Owner: CITTA/Michael Daube
Architect: Diana Kellogg Architects, New York. Diana Kellogg (project architect); Basia Kuziemski (architectural designer/rendering); Arya Nair and Riya Bissa (assistant architects)
Illustration drawings: Surya Kumar
General Contractor: Kareem Khan
Solar Panels: Genus Innovations

This article first appeared in the May/June 2023 issue of ARCHITECT.