The interviews and reporting for this story have been performed in June 2025.

The partitions have been cracked. The ground –  damp and crumbling. Contained in the dim lecture rooms of Saraswati Vidyalaya in Kelthan village, Mumbai, Maharashtra, 120 youngsters sat hunched over their books, attempting to focus as monsoon winds howled outdoors and the roof above them leaked. There was no correct lighting, no air flow, and barely any house that felt secure. 

But, day by day, they got here again. Why? as a result of this was the one faculty that they had.

Then got here the floods.

In 2019, rising waters from the close by Tansa river swept by means of the varsity, soaking lecture rooms and washing away books, computer systems, and lab gear. Water stains marked the excessive tide of the catastrophe, a everlasting reminder of what little was left behind. The lecture rooms have been now not secure, however the youngsters got here anyway.

It was this harsh actuality that moved architects Gauri Satam and Tejesh Patil, co-founders of unTAG Structure and Interiors, to take motion. What began as a private calling quickly grew to become a community-led mission to rebuild the varsity not solely stronger, however smarter, greener, and deeply rooted within the tradition and local weather of its environment.

A faculty began out of necessity

The story of Saraswati Vidyalaya begins lengthy earlier than the floods. It was born out of a deep perception that each youngster, regardless of how distant their village or modest their background, deserves entry to high quality schooling.

“In 2001, we didn’t also have a constructing,” shared Principal Vijay Ramesh Patil, who helped set up the varsity underneath the Devgarh Vibhag Shikshan Prasarak Belief. “We began with a single room given to us by a social employee within the village. Only one room, a handful of scholars, and two academics.”

 

Ultimately, the belief secured land close to the Tansa River, and a modest construction was constructed to deal with Courses 8 to 10. However the faculty’s proximity to the river got here at a value. Yearly, monsoons introduced with them the identical story: rising waters, destroyed lecture rooms, and gear broken past restore. 

“5 to 6 toes of water would enter the rooms,” Patil recollects. “Dad and mom have been frightened. Cracks began appearing within the partitions. It grew to become too harmful, and we have been left helpless.”

Studying House Basis: A ray of hope

In 2020, in determined want of an answer, the varsity approached Studying House Basis, a outstanding NGO within the locality. That connection led them to Tejesh Patil and Gauri Satam of unTAG Structure and Interiors — each of whom had sturdy rural roots and a ardour for socially acutely aware design.

“They didn’t cost us something,” says Patil. “They handled this as social work. They listened, understood the varsity’s wants, and started planning a rebuild.” What adopted was a collaborative, community-driven course of to reimagine the varsity, not simply as a safer construction, however as a mannequin of sustainable, inclusive structure.

The design developed in the course of the pandemic and was rolled out in two phases. Section one targeted on constructing core requirements: three well-ventilated, sunlit lecture rooms, a workers room, and bathrooms on the primary ground, with a kitchen and gathering house under. All of it was made with domestically sourced supplies and constructed with methods that diminished value and environmental influence.

‘A design rooted in context, tradition, and local weather’

From the start, unTAG’s imaginative and prescient for Saraswati Vidyalaya was grounded in sensitivity to each the place and its folks. The workforce didn’t arrive with grand blueprints or off-the-shelf options. As a substitute, they immersed themselves within the native aesthetics, traditions, and local weather to create a design that resonated with the tribal youngsters.

“We don’t consider in creating monumental designs in rural settings,” says Tejesh. “We consider in acutely aware structure — one which respects the area’s local weather, finances, and tradition. That’s what drove each determination on this mission.”

The primary main step was to reimagine how the varsity interacted with its flood-prone web site. By elevating the complete constructed construction onto stilts, the design provided a twin profit: lecture rooms have been now secure from flooding, and the open house under grew to become a versatile group space. This floor ground now hosts faculty actions, medical camps, and group gatherings, providing an area that’s each protected and productive.

Each materials tells a narrative

The workforce’s materials palette was formed not in faraway showrooms, however by the assets and craftsmanship out there inside a 25-kilometre radius. Regionally baked pink bricks grew to become the star materials, not simply used historically, however innovatively.

“We used a way referred to as rat-trap bond,” Gauri explains. “It entails laying bricks with a vertical hole, which reduces the variety of bricks used and provides thermal insulation. It’s cost-effective and excellent for our local weather.”

 

The identical bricks have been additionally used to create brick jaalis — perforated screens that enable gentle and breeze to filter by means of, including texture, rhythm, and pure air flow with out additional value. “It additionally provides privateness on the bottom ground,” shares Gauri.

A filler slab method was employed within the ceiling, embedding handcrafted earthen discs made by native artisans. This wasn’t only a nod to the area’s pottery traditions; it additionally diminished the quantity of concrete used, decreasing each carbon footprint and building value. “It provides vernacular magnificence whereas being functionally environment friendly,” says Gauri.

Even the flooring informed a narrative. The bottom ground was laid utilizing upcycled Indian stone — offcuts and scraps from native distributors, collected freed from value and sorted by the scholars themselves. These stones have been organized in a flowing sample impressed by the close by Tansa River, turning discarded fragments right into a vibrant visible metaphor.

Inexperienced at coronary heart, in each sense

Sustainability didn’t finish with construction. unTAG built-in photo voltaic panels to make the varsity self-reliant in power, added planters alongside the façades that college students now look after, and left the varsity floor unpaved to permit rainwater to percolate naturally. Parts of the land have been additionally transformed into vegetable beds, rising seasonal produce used within the faculty’s mid-day meals.

“That is referred to as biophilic structure,” says Gauri. “We needed youngsters to really feel related to nature, to see themselves as a part of an ecosystem. Once they look after a plant or harvest greens they’ve grown, it adjustments the best way they relate to the house.”

Cross-ventilation, north-facing skylights, and sloped roofs additional ensured that the varsity remained thermally snug and naturally lit year-round. These passive design methods eradicated the necessity for synthetic cooling or lighting in the course of the day.

Constructed good and reasonably priced

Essentially the most astonishing side of the Saraswati Vidyalaya rebuild was its cost-efficiency. “We managed to maintain the price at simply Rs 1,200 per sq. foot,” says Tejesh.  We achieved this by means of good materials decisions, native labour, and reusing what others would possibly discard.”

 

As a substitute of hiring costly city contractors unfamiliar with various methods, unTAG skilled native builders instantly on-site. “We created mock-ups, taught them how one can lay bricks, how one can comply with the flooring sample,” Tejesh explains. “It was difficult, but it surely saved cash and it left the group with new expertise.”

This hands-on strategy not solely diminished value but additionally instilled a way of possession among the many locals. Even the scholars contributed by means of shramdaan (voluntary work), which added to the spirit of collective constructing.

Taking satisfaction in the place they study

By the top of 2023, Section 1 of Saraswati Vidyalaya’s transformation was full. What now stands on the banks of the Tansa River shouldn’t be solely a structurally resilient faculty, it’s a house that radiates dignity, goal, and pleasure.

“The distinction is seen within the youngsters’s eyes,” says Patil. “Earlier, they studied in an area that seemed like a cowshed. Now, they stroll into these vibrant, breezy lecture rooms with satisfaction. The surroundings itself evokes studying.”

The college has already seen a rise in pupil enrollment. From simply 120 college students, the quantity has grown to just about 200, and continues to rise. “Dad and mom who as soon as hesitated to ship their youngsters now really feel assured,” says Patil. “The stigma round rural authorities colleges is fading. This constructing gave us that credibility.”

 

This transformation has additionally been formally recognised. Saraswati Vidyalaya lately acquired third prize in a statewide competitors organised underneath the Chief Minister’s faculty excellence initiative, successful Rs 1 lakh and incomes popularity of each its instructional and architectural advantage.

The mission’s success was made doable by a community of beneficiant donors and empathetic establishments. Studying House Basis performed a pivotal function in mobilising help and linking the varsity with organisations like Common Basic Insurance coverage Firm, which contributed Rs 9 lakh to kickstart building. 

Later, Jamnabai Narsee College in Mumbai stepped in with funding, furnishings, and by fostering stunning change of concepts and values. Their college students raised funds and visited Kelthan to grasp rural schooling realities higher, bridging a hardly ever crossed hole between city and rural worlds.

“It was like a barter system,” says Gauri. “Metropolis college students gave their time and assets, and in return, they acquired a grounded, eye-opening expertise. It was about connecting the dots — and it labored.”

Section 2 and past

The work, nevertheless, isn’t over. unTAG has already accomplished the design for Section two, which incorporates increasing the varsity to accommodate skill-based schooling for Courses 11 and 12, consistent with the Nationwide Schooling Coverage. The workforce is now actively searching for donors and companions to assist realise this subsequent part.

“This isn’t nearly one faculty,” says Tejesh. “Our purpose is to create a replicable mannequin — an ecosystem of rural colleges which might be sustainable, stunning, and deeply rooted of their context.”

For Gauri and Tejesh, who each have rural connections, the mission is private. It’s a fusion of ardour and occupation, a perception that good design needs to be accessible, that structure will be an agent of social change.

“We consider each constructing ought to resonate with its surroundings,” Gauri says. “And each youngster deserves to study in an area that respects their id, tradition, and future.”

In Saraswati Vidyalaya, that imaginative and prescient has taken root — brick by brick, with care, consciousness, and group at its core.

Edited by Vidya Gowri Venkatesh. All pictures credit score unTAG.