Founded in early 2016, Aadhan, which means box in Sanskrit, was conceptualised when Dugal who "always wanted to build a social enterprise" was contacted by his childhood friend, and now partner, Goel approached him with the idea of building budget classrooms for rural schools.
In times when it is shrinking rapidly, and fast becoming a luxury, these two childhood friends are addressing space crunching in a way that is environment conscious as well as sustainable. Nikhil Dugal and Akshat Goel, founders of Delhi-based startup, Aadhan are making classrooms from shipping containers, providing office spaces that can fit in a limited space, and in the process, redefining the way cities are built.
Founded in early 2016, Aadhan, which means box in Sanskrit, was conceptualised when Dugal who "always wanted to build a social enterprise" was contacted by his childhood friend, and now partner, Goel approached him with the idea of building budget classrooms for rural schools.
While Goel had experience in furniture fabrication, both of them were completely at sea about shipping containers. So after months of research, from how to get these boxed structures to checking them for any contamination, the duo decided to give practical shape to Aadhan.
The team uses ship containers that have been retired from the sea or are discarded. They are then refurbished with different sustainable material resource oriented strand box (OSB) and insulation packages built from recycled tetra paks. One of the first projects Aadhan provided classrooms for was in Goverdhan, Uttar Pradesh.
They have also set up classrooms and office space for private school in West Delhi, apart from setting a furniture retail store in Noida. One of the biggest advantages of Aadhan space according to Goel, a Kellogg post graduate, is that their building eliminates the need to invest in land or immovable infrastructure, hence can be set up on a rented area and operated as off-grid facility anywhere.
"They also score over brick and mortar structures because they can be erected quickly," Dugal shares. The company also equips the spaces with solar energy and dry toilets upon request. Next in line is hydroponic and organic farming and classrooms in hilly areas, according to Goel.
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 "Prefabricated building by Aahan")
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