Building Woodstock

Win Mumby Gymnasium

The eagerly awaited, world-class gymnasium at the Woodstock School was unveiled to the school's students, staff, board members, alumni, and other distinguished guests at a gala event held at the gym in September 2009. The multi-level building spanning over 26,000 square feet was dedicated to Win Mumby, a former student of the school.

The gymnasium boasts several modern and state-of-the-art facilities that mark it as one of the finest school gymnasia in all of the country. Built by the generosity of funds donated to the school by its alumni, the gym features a full-size basketball court with rollaway bleachers, volleyball facility on the court, a mini basketball court, squash court, a large climbing wall room, fitness gym, table-tennis room, equipment store, new administrative offices, as well as two classrooms to teach theory or watch game tapes. The climbing wall at the gym is a particular highlight, helping to enhance Woodstock's focus on Outdoor Education.

The challenge in designing the gym was to see that the mammoth size of the structure should not stand out and dwarf the other buildings as part of the Woodstock campus. It had to offer a wide range of sporting facilities within the constraints of the flat space available on the hillside. It was ensured that these facilities were world-class, while retaining the look and feel of the 'Woodstock character'.

Over 250 tons of structural steel was used in the construction of the gym. Many of the steel members were over 12 metres long and weighed 150 kgs each. All the stone work seen in the gym has utilised stones taken from the ground under the gym itself. The gym structure has been designed to withstand earthquakes up to 6.5 on the Richter scale. The need to create a larger footprint, to accommodate all the gym's facilities, meant that the structure had to be of a unique 'counter balanced design' to allow for the cantilevered slabs to project over the south and west side of the mountain. To achieve this, there is more cubic volume of concrete hidden under the floor of the gym than the entire structure that is visible within the gym. The total area of the Gym structure is 26,000 square feet and was constructed within 12 months at a cost of just under US$ 2 million.

The facilities in the Gym include:

• 1 full size regulation basketball court.
• 1 practice basketball court
• 1 volleyball court
• 3 badminton courts
• 1 squash court
• Indoor soccer
• 4 table tennis tables
• 3 climbing walls
• Karate, Judo, Wrestling
• Fitness Gym, fully equipped for cardio, strength and functional sports training
• Gymnastics/play area for Elementary School
• 2 fully equipped classrooms with Smart Board technology
• 4 locker room and restroom facilities with 24 showers, 17 WCs, 16 handwash sinks and 104 lockers.

The unveiling of the new gym marks the end of a long wait for the PE staff, particularly Ajay Mark, Head of PE. For ten years gym classes have been held in the Quad, along the school entranceway - wherever a flat space could be found. Wet days - of which Mussoorie has many - meant reading and writing about fitness, not practising it. Ajay now has the opportunity not just for a full student programme, but also to contribute to staff fitness and enjoyment by opening the gym during the evenings for volleyball, soccer, basketball and fun activities. Ajay comments: "I feel very proud of the new gym at Woodstock as it is an outstanding facility. With this facility the sports culture at Woodstock is making the kind of shift that I have dreamt of for years - students and staff are engaged more and more in activities that are going to keep them physically fit. It is thrilling to see students making a bee line for the gym during their free time and it is equally thrilling to see staff members making full use of the time that has been reserved for them in the gym. We are now able to run a curriculum that encourages students to adopt a healthy lifestyle and build specific skills in sports."

Click here to view a virtual tour of the Win Mumby Gymnasium

Hostel

The legendary Hostel is set to house high school boys again. The complete renovation of hostel, using the same plinth area and overall layout, was completed in a record time of just ten months. Students are expected to move into Hostel a few weeks into the Spring 2010 semester, and the new and improved dormitory will be dedicated on March 19, 2010.

Woodstock finally received permission to give a major facelift to the Hostel in early 2009, and renovation work began in May. Under the leadership of Sanjay Narang '81 and his project team, which included Nabil Sheber '81 and Bhupinder Singh Bhangra '81, all aspects of this facility were completely upgraded and the accommodation capacity increased by over 50%, while retaining the same overall shape and plinth area. The new swimming pool, donated by Bill Parson '49 and the class of 1949, was enlarged and shifted to the south side of Hostel.

Being forced to use the existing building structure, each set of rooms has been uniquely designed to reflect the character of our Himalayan setting and the warmth of a home, instead of a standardized institutional look. To achieve this wood was used in different ways for panelling on the walls, and the rafters in the ceilings. 80% of this wood has been salvaged from the old beds, windows and the roof trusses in the earlier Hostel building.

The Hostel building was built in 3 phases between 1926 & 1968. Its structure is partly load-bearing stone and partly concrete. The entire structure was painstakingly tested using ultrasound technology. The building was then strengthened by installing a new steel roof structure (replacing the wooden beams) and by concrete jacketing to strengthen the old columns and beams. Due to the various structural improvements, the Hostel building now meets the design code and can withstand earthquakes up to 6.0 on the Richter scale. All the furniture in the student rooms is made using Sheesham or Sal wood which is native to Uttarakhand, and is extremely strong and robust. The wood is expected to last as long as the building itself.

All the stone work in the new Hostel is part of the original stone walls that were built in the 1920's. The plaster over these walls was removed to reveal the beauty of the stonework.

The facilities in Hostel include:

• 45 rooms accommodating 137 boys
• 5 lounges (each attached with a kitchenette) for the students with 42" Plasma screens and digital TV
• A 140 seat dining room with fully equipped kitchen
• A large common room (adjoining the pool) which can also be used by all staff/students at functions. It also has a dance floor/lights/music system
• 5 apartments for staff/dorm parents
• An office for the 'on-duty' dorm parent
• 6 convenient locations for the restroom facilities, which are designed to the international specification of 1:7 occupants
• A regulation size outdoorbasketball/volleyball court
• Table tennis, Carom boards, chess Tables in the lounges
• 1/2 Olympic-sized pool with changing rooms
• The entire Hostel building has wi-fi connectivity

The new Hostel is the most environmentally friendly building on the WS campus, featuring low energy compact fluorescent lighting lamps, an efficient water heating system that uses the heated water for the bathrooms s as well as in the swimming pool, natural sunlight and insulated 'warm blanket' to keep the pool warm, and thermally efficient insulation on the new roof. Furthermore, wood burning stoves (bukharis) in the staff apartments & student lounges have been replaced with modern thermostatically-controlled electric heaters.

Click here to view a virtual tour of the newly renovated Hostel