Stairs to Stories: Two Fit-outs at Crimson World School, Agra
Crimson World School, Agra had a library. What it did not have was anywhere to talk about what was in it.
A library is designed for quiet. Furniture faces forward, acoustics discourage conversation, and every signal in the room says read on your own. That is correct, and it is half of what a story is for. The other half is an argument. What did the character do wrong, would you have done the same, what is the moral and do you agree with it.
Storytelling already ran through the campus as a theme. What the school needed was a room where stories could be discussed rather than consumed.
The Katha Room
The large staircase landing was circulation space, sitting idle all day in a building where space is the scarcest thing there is.
The school closed it out and we built a stepped seating. Students sit on the steps, lean against the cushioned window bench, and face each other instead of a board. The geometry does the work. Stepped and inward-facing, a group talks. Rowed and forward-facing, a group listens. Low coffee tables sit in the middle and shelving runs along one side, carrying the books students are about to read. The room previews what is coming rather than storing what is finished.
The Library
Different room, different job.
The old shelving stored books without displaying them. Deep closed racks, spines facing out, which is efficient for storage and useless for a ten-year-old choosing something to read.
It was rebuilt to keep books in view and in reach. Open cubbies at child height, covers facing out, shelf depths sized so nothing disappears behind anything else. Display shelves, new tables and seating, two chess tables and three suggestion boxes completed the room.
Easier to pick up, harder to walk past.
The library now houses 2 chess tables as well as engraved BIOMEBOARD™’s.
Across the rest of the campus, the theme carries through story boards, model boards, wayfinding signage including the Namaste board at the entrance, and a display case for LEGO builds.
The Impact
Every piece is BIOMEBOARD™, made from the paddy and wheat straw farmers burn in Punjab and Haryana.
Katha room
326 kg of straw kept out of the fire. 489 kg of CO₂e stored. ₹1,630 to farmers.
Bookshelves 295 kg. Stepped seating 150 kg. Coffee tables 44 kg.
Library
580 kg of straw. 870 kg of CO₂e stored. ₹2,900 to farmers.
Shelving 600 kg. Display shelves 200 kg. Chess tables 58 kg. Suggestion boxes 12 kg.
Signage and story boards
20 kg of straw. 30 kg of CO₂e stored. ₹100 to farmers.
Across the campus
926 kg of straw that was never burned. 1,389 kg of CO₂e stored. ₹4,630 of additional income to farmers in Haryana.
Close to a tonne of straw, held in the furniture of one school.
Why the Material Matters Here
Conventional MDF and particleboard are bonded with urea-formaldehyde resin, which off-gasses over time. Formaldehyde is a Group 1 carcinogen on the IARC classification. A library and a discussion room are exactly where children sit still for long stretches with the windows shut.
BIOMEBOARD™ uses a No-Added Formaldehyde binder. The tested 16 mm Type F sheet achieved B-s1,d0 under EN 13501-1, and BIOME reports 20% better screw withdrawal strength than the products in its comparison, which matters for furniture that will be climbed on for a decade.
There is a second reason it belongs here. A child in the Katha room can be told the bench underneath them was once a field in Haryana, and that it was going to be burned. In a room built for arguing about stories, that is one more story to argue about.
FAQs
Is BIOMEBOARD™ safe for school furniture?
Yes. BIOMEBOARD™ uses a No-Added Formaldehyde binder, which is its main safety advantage in schools. Conventional MDF and particleboard are bonded with urea-formaldehyde resin that off-gasses over time, and formaldehyde is classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer as a Group 1 carcinogen. This matters most in libraries, discussion rooms and classrooms where children sit for long periods in enclosed, air-conditioned rooms.
What school furniture can be made from BIOMEBOARD™?
BIOMEBOARD™ can be used for library shelving, display shelves, stepped and bench seating, storage cubbies, coffee tables, chess tables, suggestion boxes, display cases, signage, story boards and model boards. At Crimson World School in Agra it was used across two fit-outs covering a staircase landing discussion space, a full library refit, and campus signage and display elements.
Is BIOMEBOARD™ durable enough for school furniture?
Yes. BIOME reports 20% better screw withdrawal strength than the products in its comparison, which is the key measure for furniture that is assembled, loaded and climbed on. A tested 16 mm Type F sheet achieved B-s1,d0 under EN 13501-1; this result is specific to that tested construction, and the tested 100 mm partition assembly achieved STC 44. These results apply to the tested configurations; ask for the relevant report for your project.
How does library shelving design affect whether students read?
Shelving that displays book covers at child height makes books significantly easier to choose than deep closed racks that show only spines. At Crimson World School the library shelving was rebuilt with open cubbies at reachable heights and covers facing outward, sized so that no book sits hidden behind another. The design principle was to make books easier to pick up and harder to walk past.