Book Hoard - A Complete Women Centric Educational and Work Zone

Project idea

Adaptive reuse of an abandoned colonial-era block within Bharathi Women's College, George Town, Chennai, to create a sustainable heritage and eco-learning center linking education, empowerment, and environmental awareness.

Project description

The project proposes the adaptive reuse of an abandoned colonial-era block 800 sq.m within Bharathi Women's College in George Town, Chennai. The heritage block, a red-brick colonial structure with verandah and pitched roof built during the colonial era on an ~8 acre campus, has been repurposed as a women's college since 1964. The block currently lies unused despite high cultural significance. The aim is to revive it as a sustainable heritage and eco-learning center, reconnecting the site to George Town's cultural identity while addressing the local area's lack of inclusive, women-centric cultural and learning hubs. The methodology includes site analysis, historic study of colonial origin and women's education legacy, identification of decay and threats, concept development for adaptive reuse strategies as a heritage hub, sustainability integration with passive design, solar and rainwater harvesting, and community participation through co-design workshops with students and local groups.

Technical information

Structural analysis reveals wooden roof trusses with Mangalore tiles/Madras terrace, verandahs supported by stone/brick columns, and load-bearing red-brick masonry walls. Materials include lime plaster, teak joinery, and red oxide flooring. Defects identified include cracks in plaster and walls due to moisture, deteriorated timber roof, broken flooring with vegetation growth, paint peeling, and structural settlement in some sections. Conservation methods include re-plastering with lime mortar (not cement), treating and reusing timber trusses with anti-termite and reinforcement, Madras terrace restoration with traditional methods, and replacing damaged tiles with matching heritage stock. The design follows a whole-life cycle approach with minimal demolition and maximum reuse.

Documentation

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