In collaboration with Max Fordham and Price & Myers, Penoyre & Prasad have just completed concept design proposals for the Academy, due to be presented to the World Bank in June.

The Academy comprises two parts – a main school for general and specialist musical education for up to 80 children, and the cultural academy providing specialist music and other performance facilities including a concert hall, dance studio, screening room and multi-media suite, and fully equipped recording studio.  The library, symbolising knowledge and learning, is a spiral building topped with a metal clad conical rooflight.  Built with recycled materials, it houses the school library, as well as an archive of older books, facilities for a digital sound archive, and space for displaying musical instruments and other cultural artefacts.

At the centre of the complex is a circular arrival space – the Bantaba, forming the heart of the Academy and characterised by a large spreading tree and enclosed with low walls.  This is the place where the children meet, gather and play when they arrive in the morning.  A second, rectangular space forms the cultural plaza, an outdoor space lined with the dance studio, performance hall, an amphitheatre and dining facilities.  This is a place for outdoor performances and social gatherings.