Top of the Class

Mind Manifestation Design LLP transforms a dead, unused terrace into a thought-provoking administrative space filled with striking elements and 90s school nostalgia for Jumpstart International Preschool in Pune.

- DEEPA NAIR

Filled with sensorial experiences to grow and educate young minds, the design of most preschools across the world have an engaging and fascinating tale to tell. A similar sight awaits all those visiting the seven-year-old Jumpstart International Preschool based in Pune. With their principal centre located in Karve Road, Jumpstart last year opened six other (franchise) facilities across the city. This story however is not about the design of these seven preschools, rather it is about a space which originated when Jumpstart went about these expansions — an office from where the head honchos and the staff would operate.

Thankfully, the Tapadias, the owners of Jumpstart, didn’t have to go on a whirlwind search for a design firm who would make their imaginations a reality, as architects Anand Deshmukh and Chetan Lahoti — principals at Pune-based Mind Manifestation Design LLP — had already left a wonderful impression on them with their previous work on Jumpstart’s new preschools. “Earlier, the administrators had no dedicated space to operate from and they used a conference room (in the Karve Road facility) to meet and greet the parents,” inform the architects. “They wanted us to design a director’s cabin and a multi-purpose space to carry out various activities. And they wanted these areas in their primary facility itself. There was an unused terrace in the building, which we decided to utilise,” they explain.