EDUCATIONAL ARCHITECTURE
CHENGDU CHINA, DELIVERED|2024
Located on the west side of the Luxelakes community, the kindergarten is the community's first public school. The building design uses a very characteristic cascading setback strategy. As the depth of the living units remains essentially constant, this form allows for more interior public space on the lower floors. In addition to providing the sensory functions that are valued in early childhood education, the large-scale space is intended to provide a clearer concept of ‘public/group/individual’ in the children's daily living space.
Although it is an interior design task, we still try to think like an architect. We tried to grasp the spatial proportion and layout through several attempts. After that, we thought carefully about how to insert SAFF into the space to create a composite urban space experience. This is what we call SMALL SCALE, ACCESSIBLE and FUNCTIONAL FURNITURE. It resembles architecture in the city and creates a visual connection with each other and the possibility of spatial connection. The use of suspended ceilings is also used in the creation of the space: we use colours to express the sky, and partial ceilings to simulate the effect of eaves defining space in the city.
The design aims to imbue the interior space with a sequence similar to that of an urban living space: from the generous scale of the plaza in the public space, to the sunken sitting area, to the low children's play area, to the entrance space of each teaching unit. This space is often overlooked and we can give it more importance with the intention that the children understand the scale of the group.
The space of the kindergarten has the participation of adults, but the whole is a living space for children. From the layout that mimics urban space, to the small-scale ‘furniture architecture’ and low ‘windows’, a parallel world of communication is created for the children.