The rocky hillside surrounding an 800-year-old fortress forms several of the walls and floors of this school by DesignAware in Hyderabad, India.
Situated within a dense residential neighbourhood below the 16th century Golconda Fort, Hilltop School replaces a makeshift school in a large shed on the site, which was attended by local children for four years.

DesignAware's replacement was built on the lowest budget possible, while ensuring the only flat, open space on the site was retained to create a playground ? described by the designers as "a rare commodity" in urban schools.
Hilltop School was therefore built on top of the uneven, rocky part of its hillside site, meaning its craggy terrain had to be incorporated into the building.
"Though the open playground on the upper part of the site was the easiest place to build, we decided not to disturb it and instead to design on the rocky cliff that connected the upper and lower parts of the site," said studio's director Takbir Fatima.
"We did this without breaking or blasting any of the existing rock on site, instead bringing the rock into the building and making it a part of the building, sometimes as walls and sometimes as floor," she told Dezeen.

Hilltop School was built by DesignAware after four years of raising funds for a building. Its scale and layout was dictated by the existing terrain, as well as some neighbouring dwellings with which it shares walls.
On the lowest part of the site, the...