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A terraced school: climbing architecture among courtyards, river and city

c+d studio

Education  /  Completed
c+d studio

The site is triangular in shape, covering an area of about 15,000 square meters, requiring 30 classes and 17,000 square meters of above ground floor area, which is relatively confined.

The design adopts the strategy of “Stepping back”, which is an excellent strategy for providing more outdoor space in a high-density campus. The building volume falls from north to south layer by layer, creating abundant platforms at different heights to make up for the outdoor activity space, solving the severe sunlight problem as well. With considerate organization of terraces, each floor is guaranteed an outdoor activity space serving exclusively to the classrooms of the same floor, which saves more time for students to take a breath of fresh air during the short break of 10 minutes between classes.

Community Wish List Special Prize

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Wish
Intergrating new campus into the old

This project was originally supposed to be an expansion of junior high school for the existing primary school, but later converted to independent operation and use after completion.

The design followed the logic of expansion. The newly built part follows the spatial structure of the existing part, which is a traditional fishbone layout. The design corresponds to the existing layout directly with an addition of four new fishbones and a long straight volume along the river on the east side, which expands the original semi-open courtyard space of the existing primary school and encloses it into three new landscaped courtyards. The newly-added volume achieved spatial completion through enclosure, providing the city with a complete urban interface.

Big ship sailing in the city

Terraces formed by Stepping-back strategy

Highlight 1: Continuing the texture, Reshaping the space, Creating six landscaped courtyards

The design corresponds to the existing layout with additional new volumes, enclosing the original semi-open courtyard space into three new landscaped courtyards. The courtyards penetrate into each other on the ground floor. Standing on the platform which connects the old part and the new part, one can see activities happening in the courtyards on both sides.

Highlight 2: Stepping back layer by layer, Reducing the scale, Creating more outdoor space

Stepping back is an excellent strategy for providing more outdoor space in a high-density campus. With organization of terraces, the scale of the building can be better controlled, and outdoor activity spaces are guaranteed on each floor.

Highlight 3: Partial Atrium, Staggered Heights, Enriching the architectural spatial experience

Although facing the objective difficulties of small site and high density, the design still tried to create interesting spaces with rich height variations, light and shadow, twists and turns.

Highlight 4: Stimulating the form of mountains, Conveying the charm of water, Creating distinctive architectural façade

Responding to the river on the east side, changes called “water ripples” were made to the façade. When lightened up at night, the façade looks like sparkling up. With the reflection in the water, the building looks like a “big ship” from urban perspective, sailing on the sea.

Roof-top running track
As a key model project for the district's educational system and the first school project under the full-process management of the Construction Management Center, the project was guided by eco-friendly principles, with prioritized sustainable development of material selection, energy-efficient design, and water resource utilization. Throughout the construction phase, on-site issues were swiftly and efficiently resolved, enabling high-quality project delivery on schedule.

Credits

 Wuxi, Jiangsu Province
 Cina
 Wuxi Xinwu District Key Construction Project Management Center
 Middle School
 08/2024
 26062 m2
 Confidential
 Yi Dong
 Chunwei Zhang, Yongjin Zeng, Zhongyi Han, Lan Sun, Xinying Niu, Zhihui Xu, Dechuan Yang
 Phomi Holding, Nippon Paint, Taiwan Glass
 Xian Song

Bio

c+d studio is a vibrant and creative design group that, over the past two decades, has leveraged China’s rapid development as an opportunity to explore contemporary issues from multiple dimensions, including modernity and development, globalization and locality, critique and heritage.
We consistently approach contemporary urban and architectural challenges from an international, cross-cultural, and interdisciplinary perspective. We believe that the built environment is an indivisible whole and oppose treating spaces and places in an isolated or fragmented manner. We are convinced that inclusivity and diversity are foundational to sustainable development, and sustainability should not overly rely on technology alone.
We focus on the quality of public spaces, the role of genius loci in personal growth and development, the importance of operations and usage. We value communication and sharing, and believe that excellent designs can help a lot in cultivating unique identities and charm.

https://www.cplusdstudio.com/


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