In these slides, I have explained the principles of planning of a school building, This is a part of the course Architectural Planning and Design of Buildings for 2nd year (semester - 3) Civil Engineering students of University of Mumbai. These slides may also be useful for Architecture students

1. Rohan Dasgupta
Principles of Planning
of Public Buildings
SCHOOL

2. SCHOOL
A school is an educational institution.
Types: 1. Pre-primary (nursery) schools
2. Primary schools (Class 1 to 5)
3. Senior Secondary schools (Class 6 to 12)
4. Integrated schools with Hostel facilities (Class 1 to 12)
5. School for children with disabilities (Class 1 to 12)
6. Schools for children with intellectual and developmental
disabilities ( Class 1 to 12)
Purpose: learning of students under the guidance of
teachers
Planning: providing a peaceful, hygienic and safe
environment suitable for the above purpose
Design: based on the latest educational trends, but must
also keep provisions for future development
Principles of Planning of Public Buildings: SCHOOL Rohan Dasgupta
Image Courtesy:https://telanganatoday.com/demand-for-model-schools-on-the-rise

3. Principles of Planning of Public Buildings: SCHOOL Rohan Dasgupta
PRINCIPLES OF PLANNING OF SCHOOL: 1. ASPECT
- Every classroom, laboratory and drawing hall must have
at least one external wall.
- No part of such room shall be distant more than 7.5 m
from the external wall.
- Every such room shall have minimum ventilation to the
extent of 1/5th of its floor area.
- No door shall be less than 1.2 m in width and 2.2 m in
height.
- Cross-ventilation should be achieved by providing
windows on opposite or adjacent walls (wherever
possible). Image Courtesy: https://elearningindustry.com/why-teachers-are-against-e-mails-in-the-classroom

4. Principles of Planning of Public Buildings: SCHOOL Rohan Dasgupta
PRINCIPLES OF PLANNING OF SCHOOL: 2. PROSPECT
- The windows of classrooms, laboratories and drawing
halls should preferably face pleasant views like that of a
garden, campus infrastructure etc.
- Openings should not be provided towards unpleasant
views like open sewers, garbage disposal utilities etc.
- Though the view is pleasant, windows should preferably
not be provided towards the playground as it may
distract the students’ attention from teaching-learning.
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5. Principles of Planning of Public Buildings: SCHOOL Rohan Dasgupta
PRINCIPLES OF PLANNING OF SCHOOL: 3. GROUPING
- A school building is grouped into the following zones
based on their functional utility:
i) Administrative Area:
- This area includes administrative office, principal’s office,
vice-principal’s office, staff common room, stores etc.
- Administrative office should be near the entrance and on
the ground floor.
- Principal’s office and vice-principal’s office should also be
close to the entrance, but maybe either on the ground
floor or on the first floor.
- Staff common room maybe placed a little away from the
entrance and maybe on both ground floor and first floor.
- Stores may also be placed a little away from the
entrance, but preferably on the ground floor.
Image Courtesy: http://www.subsidekick.com/

6. Principles of Planning of Public Buildings: SCHOOL Rohan Dasgupta
PRINCIPLES OF PLANNING OF SCHOOL: 3. GROUPING
- A school building is grouped into the following zones
based on their functional utility:
ii) Academic Area:
- This area includes classrooms, laboratories, drawing
halls, library, computer room etc.
- Classrooms, laboratories and drawing halls should be
placed a little further away from the entrance, both on
the ground floor and the first floor.
- Library is preferably placed on the first floor.
- Computer room maybe placed either on the ground floor
or the first floor alongside classrooms, laboratories and
drawing halls.
Image Courtesy: https://wearelibrarypeople.com/
- The minimum size of classroom should be 5.5 m x 4.5 m
and minimum of 1 sq. m. of net floor space per student
should be provided.

7. Principles of Planning of Public Buildings: SCHOOL Rohan Dasgupta
PRINCIPLES OF PLANNING OF SCHOOL: 3. GROUPING
- A school building is grouped into the following zones
based on their functional utility:
iii) Service Area:
- This area includes canteen, sanitary units etc.
- Canteen should be provided on the ground floor. It
should not be near the academic areas. It may even be
given an access from outside the building.
- Sanitary units of a school shall consist of at least 1 boys’
toilet, 1 girls’ toilet, 1 men’s toilet and 1 women’s toilet
per floor.
- Separate toilet maybe provided for the principal and vice-
principal.
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8. Model Building Bye-Laws 2016 by Town And Country Planning Organisation (Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, GoI)
Principles of Planning of Public Buildings: SCHOOL Rohan Dasgupta

9. Principles of Planning of Public Buildings: SCHOOL Rohan Dasgupta
PRINCIPLES OF PLANNING OF SCHOOL: 3. GROUPING
- A school building is grouped into the following zones
based on their functional utility:
iv) Circulation Area:
- This area includes passages, staircases, elevators etc.
- The minimum width of all passages shall be 1.5 m.
- Horizontal circulation through the corridors outside
classrooms should be mineralized as much as possible for
the peaceful conduction of classes.
- Multiple staircases maybe provided so that all parts of
the building is easily available.
- Circulation area should not be more than 24% of the
total covered area of the school building.
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10. PRINCIPLES OF PLANNING OF SCHOOL: 3. GROUPING
- A school building is grouped into the following zones
based on their functional utility:
v) Other Areas:
- These areas include auditorium, gymnasium, indoor
games room, doctor’s room, prayer room etc.
- These shall be provided based on their individual
functionality.
Image Courtesy: https://www.dlps.co.in/
Principles of Planning of Public Buildings: SCHOOL Rohan Dasgupta

11. PRINCIPLES OF PLANNING OF SCHOOL: 4. ROOMINESS
- Roominess must be maintained for classrooms,
laboratories, drawing rooms, principal’s and vice-
principal’s room, office and in all other rooms where the
occupants of the school spend most of the time.
- For roominess, a rectangular room is better than a
square room of the same floor area.
- Accordingly, the length to breadth ratio should be 1.2:1
to 1.5:1.
- In case the length of a classroom is more than one and a
half times more than its width, it will cause a tunnel
effect which hampers the roominess.
- The floor to floor height of a school building should not
be less than 3 m for proper roominess.
Photo Courtesy: https://www.post-gazette.com/
Principles of Planning of Public Buildings: SCHOOL Rohan Dasgupta

12. PRINCIPLES OF PLANNING OF SCHOOL: 5. PRIVACY
- Boundary walls for school buildings, height of boundary
walls up to 2.4 m may be permitted by the Authority.
- The external privacy of a school building with reference
to the surrounding buildings and roads may be achieved
by i) placing the window sills at such a height that can cut
the vision of the outsiders but doesn’t hamper the entry
of outside air or ii) by planting coniferous trees around
the building.
- The internal privacy of all rooms of the schools maybe
preserved by providing door at the corners (instead of at
the center).
- If windows are to be provided in a classroom or
laboratory or drawing hall on the side of the passage
then, it should be provided at a height to cut our the
vision of the people on the passage.
- The internal privacy of staff members may be preserved
by providing individual cubicles or cabins for them in the
staff room.
Image Courtesy: https://elearningindustry.com/why-teachers-are-against-e-mails-in-the-classroom
Principles of Planning of Public Buildings: SCHOOL Rohan Dasgupta

13. PRINCIPLES OF PLANNING OF SCHOOL: 6. AMENITY AND UTILITY REQUIREMENTS
- During the planning of a school building, location of amenities and utilities like power backup generator, water cooler,
furniture etc. should be so arranged that it gives maximum area for movements and ease of work.
- Position of ceiling fans, benches/desks are of utmost importance in planning of school buildings.
- Proper provision should also be kept for fire fighting.
Image Courtesy: Delta Dental Michigan
Principles of Planning of Public Buildings: SCHOOL Rohan Dasgupta

14. PRINCIPLES OF PLANNING OF SCHOOL: 7. ECONOMY
The planner should know beforehand within how much
money the construction of the school is to be completed in
and the site location so that the proposed plan, material and
construction method is the most economical.
PRINCIPLES OF PLANNING OF SCHOOL: 8. FELXIBILITY
Flexibility for future development must be provided in the
plan as it is an utmost necessity to keep up with the
changing trends in education.
Image Courtesy: Indus International School
Image Courtesy: http://kghs-cen.in/
PRINCIPLES OF PLANNING OF SCHOOL: 9. ELEGANCE
The proportion of width to height, position of openings and
choice of materials should be such that the external
appearance of the school building is elegant.
Principles of Planning of Public Buildings: SCHOOL Rohan Dasgupta

15. Principles of Planning of Public Buildings: SCHOOL Rohan Dasgupta
PRINCIPLES OF PLANNING OF SCHOOL: 10. SANITATION
- The school building should be well lit by natural sunlight
as much as possible.
- Assisted natural lighting and artificial lighting should be
used whenever and wherever necessary.
- The school building should be well ventilated and
preferably natural, but assisted and artificial methods
may also be used to achieve the same.
- The plan of the school building should be such that
accumulation of dust is minimized.
- Adequate plumbing services for water supply, drainage of
sewage and food waste should be provided.
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16. Thank you
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- Rohan Dasgupta