SNDT was earlier called the Indian Women's University, with its first five women graduating in 1921.
Smt Nathibai Damodar Thackersey (SNDT) Women's University, the first women's university in Southeast Asia, is marking its centenary. Its over 100 years old heritage structure Kanyashala (girls' school) in Girgaum was recently restored by heritage lovers and conservationists.
SNDT was earlier called the Indian Women's University, with its first five women graduating in 1921. The university played a pioneering role in women's education and rights. Mahatma Gandhi had presided over its annual convocation in 1939, along with Sardar Patel, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose and Sarojini Naidu.
Kanyashal was originally built on the lines of an early 20th century town house with an elegant porte cochere with decorative stone columns. The ground-plus-three-storied building has long wooden fretwork balconies along its eastern facade and a sloping terracotta tiled roof in the traditional vernacular of Mumbai's historic housing stock. The SNDT Kanyashala was established in 1924.
To mark the centenary, the university initiated a project to restore and conserve this historic landmark — a Grade III heritage building — and house the university's art department in this building.
"This initiative was supported by heritage lovers and conservationists along with Sangita Jindal, a patron of art. We worked tirelessly on this project to restore the historic beauty of this building," said conservation architect Abha Narain Lambah.
She said that all women architects and conservatives were involved in this project. This newly restored building will be used for the art campus; it will also have classrooms, library, lecture halls and art studios for postgraduate and undergraduate students.
Lambah said that in the last several decades the old school building suffered both the vagaries of time and weather, with structural distress threatening its wooden rafters and balconies and severe roof leakages. "Ad hoc additions over time included partitions in the large halls on every floor and steel cupboards lined up in corridors. The stone work was stained and painted over and the original fenestration pattern of double shutters of louvered and glazed windows had been severely damaged. Haphazard electrical wiring criss-crossed across historic architectural elements and the spaces were randomly divided by plywood partitions. Over time, the urban neighbourhood saw many changes, with the surrounding bungalows giving way to high-rises. All this made fewer girl want to study in the vernacular school, and eventually, it shut down in 2013. The lack of use added to the building's dereliction. Therefore, we decided to renovate it," she added.
She also said that the entire conservation process was guided by a spirit of minimum intervention, based on the philosophy of authentic use of materials and retention of maximum historic fabric. "The strategy used for the restoration of the building was to ensure the structural and architectural integrity of the building. The conservation architects also prepared a detailed conservation report, documenting the existing site and inspecting the historic fabric, to address the building's critical issues," said Lambah.
"Roof repairs were initiated with the aim of addressing water ingress, and the historic skylight over the timber staircase was restored in the same design, even though the heritage committee had, in fact, suggested that the roof profile be changed and the skylight removed to prevent leakages."
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