Shenzhen Gezhi Academy
Answers These Urban Questions with Design
With educational innovation and population boom,
Shenzhen is faced with high pressure of both quality and quantity in construction of schoolyards.
On the basis of intensive use of land,
How to design an experiential learning space that satisfies the integration of disciplines?
How to realize compound sharing of scarce teaching resources?
And how to achieve efficient conversion of input to quality?
Shenzhen is faced with high pressure of both quality and quantity in construction of schoolyards.
On the basis of intensive use of land,
How to design an experiential learning space that satisfies the integration of disciplines?
How to realize compound sharing of scarce teaching resources?
And how to achieve efficient conversion of input to quality?
Understanding of Space within Longhua District
Be Green Lung of Education on the Longhua Central Axis
Locating on the central axis of Shenzhen, Gezhi High School is a key boarding high school newly established by Shenzhen Longhua District Education Bureau and characterized by "science and technology". After completion, it can provide 36 classes and offer 1,800 degrees.
As an urban public high school, the project is close to Hongshan subway station. So generally, it has convenient transportation and beautiful environment, but the site is small and is restricted in many aspects.
The shortage of land, the surging education demand and the high-standard school-running goals have come up with higher requirements for the complexity of building design. As a result, Shenzhen's education buildings have been developed by seeking for space in the air for a long time. But on the opposite side is the necessity of activity space close to nature for the growth of students.
The Design actively seeks solutions for designing a high-capacity and high-quality schoolyard within high-density urban built-up area. It creates a schoolyard image based on the site environment and consisted of pure white buildings and mountain shapes and hopes to present a schoolyard space that connects with nature, faces the future and is full of imagination from apsects of architectural form, facade details to courtyard space.
Design Strategy
Rationally Integrate Garden with View
The reconstruction of a schoolyard space sequence should be student-oriented. The main topic of this project is to find a balance under high density between the diversification of school space and the maximum integration of nature. The Design is based on the concept of service education, aiming to break the constraints of the site, reshape the traditional pattern, explore the space experience of studying in garden and create a schoolyard with vitality.
01 Site Planning: Integration of Garden with View
At the site planning level, on the west side lies a good landscape, and on the north and east sides closely stand the high-rise buildings. So, how to handle these two interfaces will become the focus of the design.
The Design places the sports field on the side close to Xinqu Avenue to reduce the impact of noise on surrounding buildings and teaching areas. By making full use of the due north-south orientation of the site, the teaching area and the dormitory area are designed to absolutely face south, and their obstruction to the view of apartment building on the east side is reduced, so that in terms of urban texture a transparent space is maintained for buildings adjacent to the school in this area and that the scenery of the park on the west side can also be introduced into the schoolyard. In addition, the Design uses the water source protection land on the south side to create a landscape garden, providing a rare large-area green space environment for current situation of high-density urban schoolyard and improving the quality.
02 Plan Design: Multi-directional Extension of Efficient Moving Lines
The growing demand for teaching has prompted the gradual development of schoolyard’s functional spaces to a more three-dimensional and flexible mode. Compared with traditional classrooms, this type of space will carry more learning and activity behaviors, giving both teachers and students a more colorful experience within the schoolyard.
A cross biaxis is designed in the project, giving teachers and students the possibility to do communication, sharing, teaching, performing and other activities. The spiritual ritual axis is the steps at entrance, connecting the first floor to platforms on the second and the third floors, creating a spiritual place with a sense of ritual for students to enter schoolyard life and creating an open three-dimensional and richly layered outdoor activity space. The design in the vitality enlightenment axis adopts subtraction, sets up multiple lighting atriums in the building and adds open corridors, creating different gray spaces that are quiet, open, bright and pleasant in scale, so as to provide students with conditions for nearby activities and create an experience of dynamic informal education space.
The shortest routes are considered for the moving lines in plan design, realizing the effective shuttle between buildings by means of overhead floors and air corridors, so that users can reach their destination faster. The first floor on the east side is designed more overhead, with only necessary traffic switching hubs and a small number of rooms reserved, ensuring there is enough activity space for teachers and students by keeping a larger area of overhead floor.
Multi-meaning spaces such as steps, courtyards, corridor, and floors are connected in series by the cross biaxis, which are local interpretation of study tour within the schoolyard. In the transformation of different scenes, students can perceive the changes of light and shadow in space and perceive the response of architecture to nature.
03 Facade Design: Translation of Dolomites in Design
The design of the main body creates a sculptural building image, not only emphasizing the main entrance but also forming a conversation with it. Concise façade language secretly echoes the shape of the Dolomites, strengthening the order and rhythm of the buildings within the schoolyard. The natural tones resonate with the surrounding environment, making the facade expression present a unique temperament of calmness and rationality.
The building façade is dominated by horizontal lines and is unified as a whole. The flowing shape is divided from top to bottom at both ends of the straight line. With their edges rounded, the buildings are like cantilevered cliffs, locating on the edge of Xinqu Avenue simply and powerfully and showing both the fortitude of strength and the softness of curve.
04 Reconstruction of Dialogue between Man and Nature
How to construct the relationship between landscape and sight and the relationship between nature and building is also one of the key issues to be considered. The entire schoolyard interface on the east side will be created as a high-permeability and space-rich overhead park, which contrasts strongly with the linear architectural master plan through winding landscape walks. In addition to creation of a natural environment with a large number of green plants, this area will also be created as a space for student activities such as terraces and outdoor theaters.
The water source protection land on the south side of the project is designed as a landscape garden, realizing introduction of the scenery by buildings into the garden, which not only promotes a cordial interaction between the schoolyard space and the urban green space to create a friendly atmosphere inside and outside the site but also adds unique temperament to the schoolyard to further create a comfortable urban interface, so as to achieve the willingness to integrate and coexist with the surrounding environment.
