Share This Article
Some projects are defined by a single striking image. The Shiv Nadar School in Chennai is defined by a single striking idea, and the image follows naturally from it. Designed by Vastushilpa Sangath under the leadership of principal architect Rajeev Kathpalia, the campus takes its spatial logic from an unexpected place: the Chettinad thali, a traditional Tamil meal of varied dishes served together on a single banana leaf.
That idea, of many distinct elements gathered beneath one unifying form, became the organising principle for an entire school. The result is a sweeping red roof, inspired by the shape of a banana leaf, that weaves through more than 1,400 mature trees across the 435,000 square foot campus, sheltering a series of low-rise, modular buildings linked by deep verandahs and shaded courtyards.
Designing around what was already there
Rather than clearing the site, the design team built around it. The architects traced a looping circulation path that prioritised the preservation of significant trees based on their age, ecological value and medicinal significance. That loop became the organisational diagram for the entire project, allowing breeze, birds, insects and small animals to move through the campus as naturally as the students who study there.
It is a porous, breathable approach to school design that resists the instinct to enclose and instead treats openness as a feature rather than a risk. Classrooms become quiet spaces of concentration. Courtyards become places of gathering and play. Shaded edges become zones of pause where learning extends well beyond the walls of any single room.
A campus that works with its climate
Sustainability runs through every layer of the Shiv Nadar School, not as an added feature but as a foundational design principle. Solar panels generate roughly a third of the school’s energy needs. A hybrid ventilation system combines natural airflow with mechanical cooling to maintain air quality. Grey granite flooring, sourced regionally, supports thermal comfort while honouring traditional stonecraft, and a secondary skin of reclaimed ship timber wraps sections of the building in a tactile, weathered finish.
Perhaps most striking is the restoration of a defunct on-site lake, now serving as both an ecological park and a water reservoir that harvests surface run-off and roof water to meet the school’s domestic water needs entirely. In a city like Chennai, which experiences both high rainfall and significant water stress, that single intervention transforms the campus into a genuinely water-independent site.
The team behind the vision
A project of this ambition and scale was never the work of one firm alone. The Shiv Nadar School brought together a wide-ranging team of consultants and specialists, each contributing expertise that allowed Vastushilpa Sangath’s vision to become a fully realised, functioning campus.
Leading the design was Vastushilpa Sangath, under principal architect Rajeev Kathpalia, with project lead Ar. Rajesh Suthar and design director Ar. Vijay Patel guiding the work alongside architects Rahul Venugopal, Drashti Bhavsar, Lipi Maun and Gunja Rupareliya.
Structural integrity was shaped by Manjunath Consultants and V.R Shah Engineers, ensuring the sweeping roof forms and prefabricated structural elements could be realised safely and efficiently.
The landscape, arguably the soul of the entire project, was developed by Beyond Green and RaA – Ravikumar and Associates, whose work on tree preservation and ecological planning shaped the project from its very first sketch.
Mechanical, electrical, plumbing and fire systems were handled by Jhaveri Associates, integrating services within combined foundation and trench systems to protect tree root zones throughout construction.
Bringing the entire vision to life on site was Larsen and Toubro, one of India’s most respected construction companies, whose execution turned a deeply considered design into a built reality across multiple phases.
The material story of the project is equally rich, with manufacturers including Kalzip, Armstrong, Jaquar, Kajaria, Piccolo Mosaics and Somany contributing the finishes, fittings and surfaces that give the campus its tactile, lived-in character.
Why this project matters
The Shiv Nadar School is a reminder that exceptional architecture rarely happens in isolation. It takes a lead vision, yes, but it also takes structural engineers willing to make ambitious roof forms possible, landscape architects willing to design around a forest rather than through it, MEP consultants solving for both performance and preservation, and a contractor capable of translating all of that complexity into something that actually stands.
Many companies, one unified vision, and a campus that genuinely earns the description rare in built environment journalism: porous, breathable and built to belong exactly where it stands.
The photography is by Edmund Sumner.
The Project Series is PAGES’ celebration of the many companies and consultants whose combined expertise brings a single project to life.
