YIYUN PRIMARY SCHOOL
Client
Public
Location
Yantai, China
Year
2020
Stage
Invited Competition
Design Team
Lei Guo, Chiara Toscani, Maria Belen Iliev, Roberto Lopato, Hoping Hsia,Yijia Dong, Shan Man
Collaboration
Shuishi Design (Shanghai)
CGI
BEAIER
SCHOOL MAIN ENTRANCE VIEW FROM NORTHWEST ROAD
Located in the vibrant Yantai City Economic Development Zone, Yiyun Primary School is designed to create a thriving hub dedicated to learning and growth for local children. Spanning 26927 square meters, the new school offers ample room for outdoor activities that inspire learning and play. The building, covering 14076 square meters, will foster creativity and curiosity, providing students with a nurturing environment where they can flourish and unlock their full potential.
The project comprises 30 classrooms, administrative offices for teaching staff, a restaurant, and a canteen. Additionally, it includes spaces for cultural functions, such as an auditorium and multiple public open areas for recreational outdoor activities. The overall design has undergone thorough evaluation to ensure compliance with specific land use requirements for the sports ground and the design standards applicable to primary educational spaces.
SCHOOL MAIN ENTRANCE VIEW FROM QINSHAN ROAD
YIYUN - BIRDSEYE VIEW
The program is designed as a transformative space that evolves continuously, focusing on four essential design principles:
1. The integration of two primary courtyard voids enhances the building's environmental and health benefits through careful environmental analysis. The design effectively harnesses natural light and airflow based on solar calculations.
2. Functional flexibility is emphasized through height variation across the building masses, tailored to meet the specific needs of each area. This approach promotes fluid movement and efficient circulation throughout the building, ensuring that every corner is easily accessible.
3. The design introduces an auditorium and music and dance classrooms as self-sufficient and adaptable volumes located at the northern end of the teaching building, accommodating 600 to 800 participants. This space is intended to inspire creativity and dynamic learning experiences, fostering interaction among students from different grades.
4. Focus is placed on engaging landscapes and expansive green roof spaces, maximizing outdoor activity areas for children. This seamless connection between indoor classrooms and outdoor green environments enriches the overall learning experience.
The resulting layout features a 'finger' scheme that complements the interlaced mass layers with staggered open landscape platforms and inviting inner courtyards. This design encourages a balanced blend of activities, providing students with a supportive and empowering environment for both indoor and outdoor learning.
LANDSCAPE DESIGN STRATEGY:
Landscape design encompasses all aspects of the project, from teaching spaces to the school-city interface. Each teaching space is surrounded by open landscape terraces at varying heights, which follow the massing of the platforms. On the second floor of the auditorium, a series of flower ponds and shrubs create a stunning open terrace that serves as an outdoor extension of the indoor program. This terrace is connected to the music and arts building by a large skylight that allows natural light to flow into the building.
Regarding the surrounding urban environment, the site's natural slope to the west provides a buffer zone lined with trees and plants to shield the campus. Simultaneously, the perimeter on the north and east sides is enhanced with large trees, forming a protective barrier for the sports playground area.
Incorporating the concept of a sponge city, carefully planning surfaces and roofs reduces stormwater runoff and enhances rainwater absorption through various osmotic measures. The landscape elements harmonize with the dynamic architectural forms.
PROGRAMMES
NORTHWEST EVEVATION
EAST EVEVATION
PLAYGROUND & MAIN TEACHING BUILDING
SCHOOL MAIN ENTRANCE
MAIN ENTRANCE COURTYARD
SECOND FLOOR TERRACE TO VIEW MAIN ENTRANCE
ART ACTIVITY PLATFORM & AUCITORIUM
FACADE DESIGN STRATEGY:
The façade is designed to emphasise lightness by combining three different modules of metal mesh perforated panels with a white ceramic grille as the out layer for the standard window wall system of the inner layer of the main facade, which highlights variations in the internal program. The rolling waves of the panels emphasise the building's horizontality, serving as the primary design language of the façade. The arrangement of the perforated panels is tailored to meet changing functional demands while considering the interplay of light and shade.
The inner central courtyard features a rhythmic modulation of a white metal grille, aiming to create an intimate internal environment that contrasts with the external façade's metal mesh perforated panels, which interact with the urban surroundings.
The auditorium's autonomous nature is reflected in a different façade material: off-white GRC curved panels are employed to programmatically and functionally differentiate this volume while maintaining a close connection to the building's overall façade strategy.