Learning Archipelago
Overview
Learning Archipelago is a calm, system-driven case study built around two K-12 campuses. Wellington College International in Pune and Aga Khan Mizizima School in Dar es Salaam designed within Education Design International’s learning community framework. It explores how one spatial language can hold multiple age groups, climates, and teaching styles without losing clarity or connection.
From early concept and cluster planning to interior development and documentation support, the work focuses on circulation as program, age responsive studios, and indoor-outdoor thresholds that turn each campus into a continuous learning ecosystem rather than a collection of isolated classrooms.
Categories
Institutional Design
Spatial Systems
Learning Environments
Year
2022 - 2023
Studio
Education Design International
Client
Wellington College International, Pune, India · Aga Khan Mizizima School, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Learning Archipelago
Overview
Learning Archipelago is a calm, system-driven case study built around two K-12 campuses. Wellington College International in Pune and Aga Khan Mizizima School in Dar es Salaam designed within Education Design International’s learning community framework. It explores how one spatial language can hold multiple age groups, climates, and teaching styles without losing clarity or connection.
From early concept and cluster planning to interior development and documentation support, the work focuses on circulation as program, age responsive studios, and indoor-outdoor thresholds that turn each campus into a continuous learning ecosystem rather than a collection of isolated classrooms.
Categories
Institutional Design
Spatial Systems
Learning Environments
Year
2022 - 2023
Studio
Education Design International
Client
Wellington College International, Pune, India · Aga Khan Mizizima School, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Site plan : Aga Khan Mizizima School, Dar es Salaam
1. Security Cabin
2. Parking
3. Security + Facility Management + Services
4. Football Field (45 x 90m)
5. Futsal Field / Multi Court
6. MPH - Basketball / Badminton / Swimming Pool
7. Change Rooms
8. Secondary Block
9. Primary Block
10. Administration Block
11. Landscaped Courts
12. Outdoor Dining Area (Outsourced kitchen with the two schools having warm up pantries and outdoor dining)
Problem Statement
Most schools still repeat one standard classroom down a corridor, even though learners of different ages and learning styles are all expected to use that same kind of space for teaching, collaborating, and quiet work. The result is simple: campuses drift toward sameness or separation instead of feeling like one continuous place you can grow through.
Discovery into Direction
The response was to shape K–12 environments that recognise different developmental stages while still holding one clear campus identity. Spaces needed to feel nurturing, legible and inclusive, with indoor and outdoor areas linked through shaded thresholds and shared circulation tuned to climate and diverse needs.
Ground floor : Cluster zoning and Furniture Layout
The Approach
The work centred on connected learning communities and interiors that support both collaborative and independent learning, guided by close attention to everyday behaviour and unspoken interactions. Conversations and site readings were translated into clear spatial priorities: which communities sit close or apart, where shared social life belongs, and how movement through the campus should feel.
The focus shifted from counting classrooms and desks to designing for a spatial, emotional journey, how different learners move, gather, and rest across the day.
Material and Colour Palette
Color psychology was utilized to select the appropriate hues, creating a conducive atmosphere. Additionally, inspiration was drawn from Tanzania’s geography, local architecture, fabrics, textiles, bamboo craft, Tinga-Tinga art, wildlife, and cultural heritage.
Primary Block : Creche
Secondary Block : Da Vinci Studio (Maker’s Lab)
Site plan : Aga Khan Mizizima School, Dar es Salaam
1. Security Cabin
2. Parking
3. Security + Facility Management + Services
4. Football Field (45 x 90m)
5. Futsal Field / Multi Court
6. MPH - Basketball / Badminton / Swimming Pool
7. Change Rooms
8. Secondary Block
9. Primary Block
10. Administration Block
11. Landscaped Courts
12. Outdoor Dining Area (Outsourced kitchen with the two schools having warm up pantries and outdoor dining)
Problem Statement
Most schools still repeat one standard classroom down a corridor, even though learners of different ages and learning styles are all expected to use that same kind of space for teaching, collaborating, and quiet work. The result is simple: campuses drift toward sameness or separation instead of feeling like one continuous place you can grow through.
Discovery into Direction
The response was to shape K–12 environments that recognise different developmental stages while still holding one clear campus identity. Spaces needed to feel nurturing, legible and inclusive, with indoor and outdoor areas linked through shaded thresholds and shared circulation tuned to climate and diverse needs.
Ground floor : Cluster zoning and Furniture Layout
The Approach
The work centred on connected learning communities and interiors that support both collaborative and independent learning, guided by close attention to everyday behaviour and unspoken interactions. Conversations and site readings were translated into clear spatial priorities: which communities sit close or apart, where shared social life belongs, and how movement through the campus should feel.
The focus shifted from counting classrooms and desks to designing for a spatial, emotional journey, how different learners move, gather, and rest across the day.
Material and Colour Palette
Color psychology was utilized to select the appropriate hues, creating a conducive atmosphere. Additionally, inspiration was drawn from Tanzania’s geography, local architecture, fabrics, textiles, bamboo craft, Tinga-Tinga art, wildlife, and cultural heritage.
Primary Block : Creche
Secondary Block : Da Vinci Studio (Maker’s Lab)
Site plan : Aga Khan Mizizima School, Dar es Salaam
1. Security Cabin
2. Parking
3. Security + Facility Management + Services
4. Football Field (45 x 90m)
5. Futsal Field / Multi Court
6. MPH - Basketball / Badminton / Swimming Pool
7. Change Rooms
8. Secondary Block
9. Primary Block
10. Administration Block
11. Landscaped Courts
12. Outdoor Dining Area (Outsourced kitchen with the two schools having warm up pantries and outdoor dining)
Problem Statement
Most schools still repeat one standard classroom down a corridor, even though learners of different ages and learning styles are all expected to use that same kind of space for teaching, collaborating, and quiet work. The result is simple: campuses drift toward sameness or separation instead of feeling like one continuous place you can grow through.
Discovery into Direction
The response was to shape K–12 environments that recognise different developmental stages while still holding one clear campus identity. Spaces needed to feel nurturing, legible and inclusive, with indoor and outdoor areas linked through shaded thresholds and shared circulation tuned to climate and diverse needs.
Ground floor : Cluster zoning and Furniture Layout
The Approach
The work centred on connected learning communities and interiors that support both collaborative and independent learning, guided by close attention to everyday behaviour and unspoken interactions. Conversations and site readings were translated into clear spatial priorities: which communities sit close or apart, where shared social life belongs, and how movement through the campus should feel.
The focus shifted from counting classrooms and desks to designing for a spatial, emotional journey, how different learners move, gather, and rest across the day.
Material and Colour Palette
Color psychology was utilized to select the appropriate hues, creating a conducive atmosphere. Additionally, inspiration was drawn from Tanzania’s geography, local architecture, fabrics, textiles, bamboo craft, Tinga-Tinga art, wildlife, and cultural heritage.
Primary Block : Creche
Secondary Block : Da Vinci Studio (Maker’s Lab)
Resolution & documentation
The concept only holds if it survives what comes after it. Across both campuses, that meant carrying the same spatial thinking into resolved layouts, interior elevations, furniture plans, and compliance drawings, so ideas like connection, comfort, and flexibility stayed legible all the way through to something a contractor could actually build.
Resolution & documentation
The concept only holds if it survives what comes after it. Across both campuses, that meant carrying the same spatial thinking into resolved layouts, interior elevations, furniture plans, and compliance drawings, so ideas like connection, comfort, and flexibility stayed legible all the way through to something a contractor could actually build.
Resolution & documentation
The concept only holds if it survives what comes after it. Across both campuses, that meant carrying the same spatial thinking into resolved layouts, interior elevations, furniture plans, and compliance drawings, so ideas like connection, comfort, and flexibility stayed legible all the way through to something a contractor could actually build.
Primary Block : Learning Deck
Secondary Block : Design and Tech Lab
Primary Block : Learning Studio - Interior Elevations
Typical Toilet Drawings: Fixture mounting heights and Tiles finishes
01
Base tile
02
Cement grey
floor tiles
03
Sage green
04
Highlighter
Primary Block : Learning Deck
Secondary Block : Design and Tech Lab
Primary Block : Learning Studio - Interior Elevations
Typical Toilet Drawings: Fixture mounting heights and Tiles finishes
01
Base tile
02
Cement grey
floor tiles
03
Sage green
04
Highlighter
Primary Block : Learning Deck
Secondary Block : Design and Tech Lab
Primary Block : Learning Studio - Interior Elevations
Typical Toilet Drawings: Fixture mounting heights and Tiles finishes
01
Base tile
02
Cement grey
floor tiles
03
Sage green
04
Highlighter
Reflection & learning
Learning Archipelago left a quieter imprint than a list of skills. It taught me to design for scale and structure, not just for individual rooms. Working across multiple campuses meant balancing user comfort with operational constraints and finding clarity inside a complex brief.
Learning Archipelago left a quieter imprint than a list of skills. It taught me to design for scale and structure, not just for individual rooms. Working across multiple campuses meant balancing user comfort with operational constraints and finding clarity inside a complex brief.
Small spatial decisions: a threshold, a stair, the way a studio can quietly shift mode, proved capable of quietly changing how a school feels and how easy it is to run. More importantly, it showed how invisible systems of clusters, circulation, and documentation, when designed carefully, can help users move through their day with less friction and more ease.
Small spatial decisions: a threshold, a stair, the way a studio can quietly shift mode, proved capable of quietly changing how a school feels and how easy it is to run. More importantly, it showed how invisible systems of clusters, circulation, and documentation, when designed carefully, can help users move through their day with less friction and more ease.
