There are a number of great schools designed in countries with similar climates and locations. Whilst successful ideas in one place do not necessarily work in others it is useful to see how other people have made great schools in challenging places.
The following links and text are from Imagine- inspirational school design website researched and developed by BDR.
This primary school is an innovative collaboration between a University design and research team and local villagers. It combines traditional timber, mud-brick and tile construction techniques, with bespoke environmental strategies to create an efficient and economical building in an area subject to extremes of temperature. Though the design solution is specific to the Loess Plateau region, this model of cooperation between design team and local stakeholders is universally applicable as a successful and inspirational precedent.
The Handmade School, Bangladesh
The Handmade School is part of a larger project in the rural Bangladeshi village of Rudrapur to improve local building techniques and create an identity through the use of local resources. The school was built by local craftsmen, pupils and teachers in collaboration with skilled volunteers from Europe. The result is a delightful building that is integrated both socially and physically into the local community.
Druk White Lotus School, India
This is a school which has a highly intelligent approach to sustainability, whilst it is at the same time low-tech in its approach to building design and services. The project has been conceived as a model for appropriate and sustainable modernization in Ladakh, providing a high quality environment for teaching and creating a living school community. It offers a model academic curriculum combined with the needs of the local community, in a culture under enormous pressure to change. Though the project is a local initiative, it has an international context, with funding from charitable donations in the UK and Europe as well as the local community.
The Nursery, Infant and Primary schools are now established, with residential accommodation for pupils travelling from across the region. Plans for the development of a secondary school are underway and due for completion in 2010.
Gando Primary School, Bakina Fasu
This school contains both interior and exterior classrooms and has been constructed using locally manufactured earth blocks. The architect trained in Berlin but returned to his home village to work with the community to improve their local conditions. The skill and tenacity demonstrated by this project was recognised by the Aga Khan awards in 2004.
