The Khumjung secondary school, situated at the foothills of the Himalayas, initially built by Mt. Everest’s first climber, was to be reconstructed after its earthquake during the 2015. The Doshisha University Alpine Club decided to support the school and create safe classroom environment for their 300 students.

With a view to keep the design as vernacular and simple as possible, the traditional Nepalese window and door frames technique has been used for construction. Shigeru Ban + (VAN) architects, have proposed modular wooden frames as structural members, which are connected to form a wall system, in filled with brick rubble. This form of construction speeds up the construction process, as the wooden frames can be assembled quickly with the use of locally available materials and simple construction methods. Consequently, with faster construction, the school becomes accessible immediately as soon as the roof is secured to the structure.

As the project demanded a simple and functional design to sustain the weather conditions, and at the same time prove to be convenient for the students’ use, the same wall system has been repeated to form a row of classrooms. With three class rooms measuring 86 sq. m each, it has now become an adept school for the students. The school is also envisioned to be used as a shelter in the event of a disaster.