Text description provided by the architects. Dayuan, the founder of the
school, was once one of the best middle school linguistics teachers,
later he became a businessman due to peculiar encounters. However, there
is always a dream about education in his heart. For the olive tree in
his dreams, he finally set off after many years of preparation.
international school in hangzhou
After several discussions and inevitable collisions of ideas, the architects determined the overall layout:
The buildings and the sports areas take one half of the site each.
Although the east-west oriented track and the dormitories are not
common, the overall structure is compact, well responding to the
high-speed train line, the highway entrance on the south and the main
urban boulevard on the west.
All the art and experience spaces are located on the ground floor;
Public spaces such as roof gardens, vegetable gardens, science museum
are on the top floor; Classrooms and offices are located on the floors
in-between.
The ideal school buildings in Dayuan’s mind should have conversations
between western and eastern cultures, and inherit the spirit from both
the old times and new days. Below are the architects’ considerations and
responses:
Courtyard is a basic spatial element that is common in all kinds of cultures in ancient and modern China and abroad.
Pitched roof is a basic form in the culture at all times and in all over
the world.Chinese tradition is to enter the building from the eave
side; whereas the western world from the gable wall.
Arch is an important element of Western classical architecture; to place
buildings along the south-north axis and form a layered courtyard is a
common method for classical Chinese architecture.The red brick façade is
a common practice in Western architecture; whilethe white wall is
widely used in classical architecture in the Jiangnan area.
The primary school has two layers of courtyards with the theme of
nature; three olive trees from the Mediterranean are planted in the high
school courtyard with red brick walls on four sides; white walls with
light wooden colored railing and roof structure are used in middle
school courtyard; there is a pool of water in between middle school and
high school, with eight types of aquatic plants native to Jiangnan.
Olive tree represents Global vision, “Shuibaxian” (eight types of
aquatic plants) reflects Chinese feeing and native sentiment.
There is a river in the east of the site, so a bridge that meets the
functions is needed. The international school curriculum attends to both
Chinese and Western cultures. A symbolic meaning of ‘connection’ is
applied to a functional bridge located on the east side entrance. The
complex shape of the continuous integration of the slab of the entrance
arch bridge and roof allows the digital design and fabrication to take
their advantages.
The perforated pattern of the red brick wall in east façade and the
color composition pattern of the west façade of the dormitory source
from the same part of the famous Chinese painting, Dwelling in the
Fuchun Mountains. Byintegrating digital technology, there is no
difficulty to abstract the artistic masterpiece into architectural
decorative elements.
The core value of this design is to involve the process and method of
architectural design in the basic education process, so as to let the
kids who study in the school have the opportunity to learn and
experience the different form transition, by combining art and
technology.
The Wall