CBSE School Building Plans, Architecture, Architects, Furniture & Designs

Getting the school building plan ready is a task. Here in this post, I will try to share some ideas which can help you get close to your building plan and some idea on the cost.

Fist does the plot for the school, a few things one has to be careful about choosing a plot for Schools is as follows;

The Bus Conveyance and Convenience :
The School bus should be on road for a max of a 45 minutes including 8-9 stops from the farthest pick up and drop point
The Catchment Area:
The school should ideally be located near upcoming or developed housing facilities
The Location
The Location on the National Highway/State Highway / Important Road. It pays to find a location on the main road for obvious reasons
The Shape of the Plot and other factors
Ideally the plot should be away from a noise making establishment if any
Other Factors
a) There should be no Overhead ‘High Tension Line’ passing over the plot of the school
b) The front Length or Breadth should be as much as possible, helps in the elevation planning
c) The water level should be healthy enough
d) The Shape should be as much rectangular as possible, reduces the space wastage while planning the building
e) The Land usage of the plot should allow a society / Trust / Sec 8 company to start a school
f) Be very clear of the deal, it should not be disputed or controversial. (I have learnt this the the hard way). Look for Land Records dating back as long as pre-independence.

Once you are done with the plot, its lease and other essentials like Diversion (Change of Land use) and other essentials like NOC (if required) etc one has to look for an architect who can deliver the project based on the amount you have in mind.

Building Plan for a School

CBSE or any other board doesn’t really have a benchmark or norm in terms of Minimum area to be constructed. There is no requirement that a school has to construct ‘x’ square feet. Given the vision of the school and the investment capacity of the governing body, one has to plan accordingly. Though i have covered construction requirement for a CBSE school in my earlier blog, here are some norms by the CBSE worth highlighting are as follows;

Size of the Classroom : 500 Square foot for 40 students (This can come down proportionately in case of less number of students)
Size of the Library: 1205 sq feet (regardless of sections, class size or the nature of the school Primary / Middle / Higher Secondary)
Size of Labs: 600 sq feet

beyond this everyone is asked to look into the National Building Code (https://bis.gov.in/?page_id=117159) and read and design

Ideally the things which one needs to keep into account is

Parking : For Parents and Staff
Green Spaces: It is very important for school to work proactively on making the campus green
The placement of activity rooms like Music and Dance since they create a lot of sound while in motion to others discomfort
The placement of the office (should it be within the school block or outside of it)
The Buses – Their parking, their pick and drop points and the Drivers retiring room
The Drinking water zones and the Canteen
Lab designs: For computer lab – wiring design is important, For Biology Lab – Water is required along with storage, For Chemistry: Placement of inflammables and water line, For physics – space is important.
There are more aspects like Light, Air, Elevation, Staff room location, staff toilet, space for lift, the parents (visitors) section, Auditorium, future expansion, Gensets and Grade III / IV staff, Employee Quarters etc

If one is looking to build Residential (Hostel) facility also, than one has to look for several other factors as well like Infirmary, Kitchen, Canteen, Stores etc. As a ballpark, a building plan which would include roughly 50% – 60% as the circulation area in terms of aisles and galleries with a verified tiling and proper paint on the wall with furniture is going to cost roughly about Rs 1000 – Rs 1300 a square feet. This includes all the furniture as well.

School is built in phases, be aware of that and don’t get discouraged with the huge cost, be thoughtful and realistic about it.

Looking for an Architect for School:

Ideally one should look at an architect who has already worked on schools and have delivered on several real projects. Good architect would cost you anywhere between 20 Rs a Sq Feet to 90 Rs a Sq feet. This would include everything from dredging, boundary wall, elevation to the column and beam design etc. What this might not include is landscaping and interior designing.There are standalone architects, Experienced Firms and some Dedicated firms who only do Education Design/ Schools/ Universities.

It is important to have someone who has done schools as the real capital expenditure in school is building construction after the land. A good and experienced architect can really help save costs and also help us adopt the best practices and ideas. Experience has a big role to play here. I can refer a few who we work with on multiple project. You can send me a mail, if you want to get in touch with them, also mention the budget you have, I will suggest accordingly.

Looking for Furniture for the School

If you talk about my school, to ensure quality and to save costs, I have a fixed carpentar and a fabricator who make Brighton International School’s furniture. The finishing is not that great, but I am assured of the quality. This is tedious and can be painful sometimes. The finesse is never there and one has to live with that.

Though, there are all sorts of suppliers, vendors in this field. You have International from China and Europe, National from Goa, Delhi, Bangalore, Indore etc and you have very local suppliers in the district and the city. To name a few national brands, we can count Infinity Furniture, Dovetail, Boston, Popcorn, iMod, Civom etc

All of them are good and very finished, obviously they come at a cost.

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Abhiney Singh

Managing Director at Brighton International School

I run a school called Brighton International School (www.brightoninternational.in). I am also now a partner with a School consulting company which helps budding educators or investors start school or gain access to help related to school. The help could be in the form of Turnkey School Consultation, Detailed Project report, Project Finance, Business Plan consulting, Recruitment planning, Infrastructure consultation, Affiliation Consultation, Teacher’s Training, Academic and Curriculum Planning. I now have a decade of work experience. I strongly believe in improving every day and I have tremendous respect for people who pursue their dreams with undying passion and enthusiasm.

I am a Marketing-Media professional which has helped me in shaping what I am today. I am Chemical Engineer with an MBA in Marketing.
You can know more about me at www.linkedin.com/in/abhineysingh

You can mail me on abhiney@brightoninternational.in or call me on +91 70002 40006. This number is also on whatsapp.

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