The Muskaan School was a project that the architect Revathi Kamath (1955-2020), of Kamath Design Studio, designed pro bono for the NGO Muskaan in the Neelbad area of Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, in 2016. Muskaan is an organisation that works in the areas of education, mental health, and advocacy for marginalised communities, including denotified tribal groups.
With Revathi Kamath being involved from the inception of the project, her inspirational design was used to help collect funds from international and domestic donors. As many of the students of the school were the children of construction workers, their parents generously volunteered their time and skills to help build the school.
The two-storey school was built using sun-dried mud bricks made on site, along with local sandstone, wood and bamboo, giving its students and their parents pride in their traditional building practices. The doors and windows of the school were made from recycled wood for both economic and environmental sustainability. The design included classrooms, play spaces, dormitories, a library, dining space, kitchen, and administrative facilities.
In the decade since its conception, the building has served the school well and has been enjoyed by students and teachers alike. At the same time, the building has unfortunately also had to withstand the toll of time and the elements, including unprecedentedly heavy monsoon rains.
In the face of these challenges, the team at Muskaan has done exemplary work for the maintenance and upkeep of the building. However, when a burst pipe in a ground-floor toilet began to undermine the structural integrity of the building in 2024, Muskaan reached out to experts locally and from across the country to save the building.
A team of volunteers, including architects, designers, conservationists, structural engineers, and contractors, met in Bhopal to comprehensively review the condition of the building and formulate a plan of action for its repair. The original architectural and structural drawings from the Kamath Design Studio Archives were used to help understand the way the building was constructed and ensure that the repairs did not compromise Revathi Kamath’s vision of the building.
The different forms of damage were then categorised and prioritised, with time and effort being first put towards the most urgent repairs. These repairs are now well underway, and while the structural integrity of the building is no longer in question, the school is likely to face more issues unless the comprehensive repairs are completed in a timely manner.
It is with this goal in mind that Muskaan is now seeking help from the architectural and design fraternity in the form of financial donations and volunteers to help with the preservation. This can be a wonderful learning opportunity for students and young professionals to get first-hand experience of sustainable building practices, either individually or through their educational institutions.
To make financial donations, please go to Muskaan, where a detailed breakdown of the tasks and their budgets is provided. To volunteer, please visit here.
