Located in Weifang City, Shandong Province, Ge’er School is a primary school designed with inspiration drawn from traditional Chinese culture. Moving away from conventional function-based architectural strategies, the design begins by deriving spatial composition from educational content. The architects collaborated closely with curriculum designers and contributed to task book development, spending nearly a year creating an organic architectural form that encourages students to explore their inner selves and foster personal growth through space.
The campus layout is inspired by the spatial principles found in classical Chinese gardens. It adopts a retrospective approach to spatial organization, integrating an elevated base layer that expands the main entrance and connects the second-floor roof terrace with outdoor stairs. This design fosters a seamless indoor-outdoor connection and creates a circulation pattern of “circling around the outer corridor and linking the inner corridor.” Traditional landscaping techniques, such as scenic borrowing and garden design, are embraced and enhanced by introducing greenery from the western scenic area and the southern reclaimed land. Through landscape elements like gardens and lawns, the design enriches the spatial experience, softens boundaries between inside and outside, and offers an uninterrupted visual flow.
While elementary students typically enjoy lively and diverse spatial environments, this design avoids using overtly symbolic children’s elements or typical architectural clichés. Instead, all functions are connected along a north-south axis. To the west lies a themed courtyard dedicated to reflection and communication, while the east side houses sports facilities including covered playgrounds and basketball courts. The main building incorporates numerous informal gathering spaces such as corridors, terraces, and staircases, providing opportunities for children to walk, play, and interact freely. This harmonious blend of activity and calm nurtures the most vivid memories of childhood growth and the human spirit.
The architecture embraces the principle of spatial education by embedding aesthetic concepts into every detail. The main entrance on the north side features a sloping roof that metaphorically references traditional Chinese architecture, emphasizing cultural and architectural character through a play of solid and void. The warm facade and abundant natural light in the teaching building invite life’s purest interests to flow between indoors and outdoors. Flexible individual layouts combined with thoughtfully designed shared spaces invite students to contemplate relationships between humans and nature, each other, and the spiritual world—all within a limited physical environment.
Conclusion
Today, educational architecture goes beyond merely fulfilling teaching needs. It aims to enrich individuals, inspire divergent thinking, and create meaningful experiences within daily life. Gad’s series of school projects seek to rediscover the humanistic connection to site and revive the aesthetic appeal of space. Employing sustainable architectural strategies, the design fosters a multi-layered environment that broadens life’s dimensions and supports personal growth. Beginning with natural and aesthetic education, it shapes the psychological and character development of students.
Project Images
△ Conceptual Diagram
△ Campus Space
△ Scheme Generation Diagram
△ General Layout Plan
△ Elevation Drawing
△ Elevation Drawing
△ Section Diagram
△ Wall Node
Project Information
Project Name: Weifang Ge’er School
Location: Weifang, Shandong Province
Address: Intersection of Taoyuan Street and Gaoxin Second Road, Gaoxin District, Weifang City, Shandong Province
Project Type: Campus Architecture
Design Start: August 2019
Completion: December 2020
Project Area: 31,940 square meters
Design Firm: Gad
Project Director: Li Jian
Lead Designers: Li Jian, Zhu Huibin
Architecture Team: Li Jian, Ji Ye, Zhu Huibin, Li Kun, Javert, Mei Yujian, Ding Xuyang
Structure Team: Kan Zhihao, Yang Yaowu, Shi Zhan
Water Supply and Drainage: Jiao Fang, Xu Jiong
HVAC: Xu Zhifeng, Zhou Yan, Yao Mengjie
Electrical: Chen Xiaoyun, Zhang Jianpeng
Other Contributors
Landscape Design: Luo Wei, Wang Dingding, Cai Wenyue
Owner: Weifang Ge’er Real Estate Co., Ltd
Photography: Wu Qingshan (Mountain Image)
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