Mountain Strategy
The site features a longitudinal elevation difference exceeding 10 meters. The design respects the natural terrain’s basic contours, crafting a porous spatial structure that skillfully manages variations in height, integrates green landscapes, accommodates diverse functions, and balances spatial scale relationships.
Vertical Zoning – The lower campus level serves as a landscape park, seamlessly connecting roads at varying elevations and linking dynamic functional spaces like the auditorium, covered playground, and dance classroom. Above, a three-dimensional garden surrounds a green atrium, creating multiple quiet, private clusters for teaching spaces. The roof follows the terrain’s contours, forming layered terraces that accommodate astronomical observation areas, experimental planting fields, and other uses, visually extending the mountain landscape.
Horizontal Zoning – Teaching spaces are organized horizontally, with interactive classrooms for art, calligraphy, and handicrafts located along a covered corridor adjacent to the playground. This arrangement transitions from lively, “dynamic” areas to quieter, “static” classroom environments.
Plants grow freely within this porous structure, with nature and human activity seamlessly intertwined. The entire spatial network resembles an imaginative maze, supporting the raw vitality of wild growth.
Extra Space
This campus was not designed for maximum efficiency; instead, these “extra” spaces offer room for future growth and creativity. They inspire imagination and curiosity, embracing every stage of free development.
Unlike traditional corridors that serve purely as passageways, the covered corridor here functions as an active space with multiple uses. It serves as a play area during breaks, an exhibition space for the art classroom, and a handicraft market for the craft classroom. This approach breaks the conventional classroom boundaries, encouraging communication, display, and participation within the corridor.
The colorful spiral ramp represents the longest vertical circulation path but is also the route children prefer most. The unique views and experiences along this path make the “detours” delightful and engaging.
Wild Growth: Beyond Construction
The school was constructed in just 10 months at an extraordinary pace, facing many uncontrollable and unexpected challenges. The greenery varied significantly before and after the rainy season, the wood grain coating underperformed, and the aerial courtyard’s green flower pool was omitted. Supply issues, due to the shortened construction timeline, led to the use of grid sizes and railings that did not precisely match the original design. These uncontrollable details caused frustration and regret.
After the school year began, I wandered through every corner of the building. From the start, the goal was to create a “porous spatial structure” that radiated vitality—a free, transparent experience that extended the spatial tension. The scene before me resembled a slowly unfolding painting.
The “extra” spaces are either assigned or awaiting specific functions. Children freely run and play on the slopes, and transplanted plants have started to adapt and express their natural growth patterns. Numerous spaces invite exploration, filled with surprises, memories, and the unknown. In that moment, the uncontrolled details seemed less significant. More than just buildings, this campus nurtures unrestrained childhood growth within its three-dimensional garden.
Project Drawings
△ General Layout Plan
△ +1683 Elevation Plan
△ +1688.1 Elevation Plan
△ +1692.1 Elevation Plan
△ +1696.1 Elevation Plan
△ +1700.1 Elevation Plan
△ +1704.1 Elevation Plan
△ +1708.1 Elevation Plan
△ Roof Plan
△ Elevation Drawing
△ Elevation Drawing
△ Section Diagram
△ Section Diagram
△ Detailed Drawing
Project Information
Architectural Design: Oneself Alliance
Area: 22,000 m²
Project Year: 2021
Photographers: Annan, Yuyu Gaoheng
Manufacturers: Guangdong Golden Aluminum Group, MAYDOS
Lead Architect: Liu Jiayang
Design Team: Ge Jun, Che Xuan
Principal: Yuxi High tech Zone Investment Management Co., Ltd
Structural Design: Zhongsen Huachuang Architectural Design Co., Ltd
Landscape Design: Yunnan Musen Urban Landscape Planning and Design Engineering Co., Ltd
Construction Agent: Fukang City Holdings (Yuxi) Co., Ltd
Location: Yuxi City, China
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