Preschool Higher Normal College is a vocational institution dedicated to training preschool teachers. It combines theoretical instruction with hands-on practical training, aiming to develop technically skilled professionals to meet societal needs. In the context of the nation’s strong push for vocational education, this project explores innovative approaches to vocational college design, focusing on planning, organization, educational models, and spatial creativity.
Situated on a seaside mountain, the preschool teacher college primarily serves female students, reflecting the nature of early childhood education. In the region’s traditional culture, women’s social status is relatively low, which highlights the school’s importance in empowering women locally. The design theme, “Daughters of the Sea,” is inspired by the keywords FOREST, FREEDOM, and FEMININE. The vision is to create a utopian campus resembling a “giant kindergarten” through three key principles: low-impact development, free-flowing spaces, and celebrating female values. The campus fosters a natural, open, and autonomous environment where students can express their youth freely, acquire skills, and realize their potential, thereby passing on the value of women to future generations through their careers.
The region enjoys warm, sunny weather year-round, with white buildings quietly nestled amid mountains and bays. The campus, perched on the mountain, features light and elegant structures that exude a grand yet graceful atmosphere. The plastered facades are simple but textured, designed to withstand the intense sun and strong coastal winds.
Campus planning reflects the vocational school’s needs, dividing functions into teaching, practical training, and daily life areas. The school’s core mission is to transform teenagers aged 18 to 19 into qualified preschool educators. Being naturally attuned to children’s emotions is essential in this role — if one cannot connect with a mother’s feelings, they must reconnect with their own childhood. The spatial design emphasizes female perspectives and aesthetics, offering a safe and nurturing environment that makes campus life joyful and fulfilling.
This design envisions a utopia as free and joyful as childhood itself, where students learn to guide, educate, and develop themselves in an atmosphere of limitless freedom. The campus planning deliberately breaks away from the traditional regimented “barracks” style of university layouts, instead dismantling, mixing, reorganizing, and eliminating rigid structures to enable fluid and flexible movement throughout the campus.
Nature is the foundation of life and the starting point for all education. The teaching area utilizes the only relatively flat part of the site, breaking traditional campus conventions by adopting an open layout similar to a kindergarten. The buildings are interconnected, smoothing out height differences while creating multiple intimate courtyards. These spaces foster communication and learning, nurturing the curiosity and creativity of future preschool teachers as if they were children themselves.
The design embraces the educational philosophy of “non-competition, emphasizing cooperation.” Spacious, continuous shared areas become the most vibrant parts of the campus. Here, students reconnect with their childhood, harmonize with nature, and support one another. The values of freedom, equality, and independence are woven into the space and teaching methods, which students will carry forward in their future work and lives.
Additional facilities are built along the mountain slope, with the playground elevated to the mountaintop to minimize earthwork and reduce costs. Positioned at the highest campus point, the playground features an “infinite” design that embraces the surrounding mountains and sea. The cafeteria is cleverly hidden beneath the playground, connected by a necklace-like ramp. Running on the playground evokes the sensation of being in a forest surrounded by sea clouds, creating a unique and unforgettable experience for students.
Beyond the treetops, the residential area is immersed in the lush greenery of the mountain forest. The low-density “Seascape Courtyard” offers dynamic movement, while the rooftop “Seascape Platform” creates harmonious vistas throughout the campus. A comprehensive piano room is located on the east side of the residential area, adjacent to an infinity pool that provides panoramic views of the expansive mountain and sea horizon.
This school is uniquely situated between mountains and sea, where the clouds over the ocean constantly change in shape and color, creating a beautiful and dynamic sky. During the project photography, the ever-shifting clouds captivated our cameras and our attention. As the saying goes, “Education is like one tree shaking another, one cloud pushing another, one soul awakening another.”
Project Drawings
△ Model Diagram
△ Model Diagram
△ Model Diagram
△ General Layout Plan
△ Location Analysis
△ Analysis Chart
△ Axial Sectional View
△ Analysis Chart
△ Analysis Chart
△ Analysis Chart
△ Axonometric Diagram
△ Axonometric Diagram
△ Axonometric Diagram
△ Axonometric Diagram
Project Information
Architect: Standing Wood Design
Area: 100,000 m²
Project Year: 2021
Photographers: Zhu Qingyan, Yang Pengcheng
Project Manager: Guo Lan
Lead Designers: Liu Jinrui, Zou Mingxi
Planning Team: Zhu Sijun, Li Weihui, Gao Xueying, Wang Tingting, Li Jiayan, Xie Shunbing, Li Chunyao, Zhang Endong, Yang Xulun, Xie Xuezhen, Chen Yuyinke, Hu Jia, Ge Linda, Li Yucheng, Yu Chunxin
Implementation Team: Li Weihui, Liu Minghao, Cheng Miao
Technical Consultants: Hou Xiufeng, Liu Chengliang
Design Consultant: Shen Peng
Project Consultant: Guangdong Huida Engineering Consulting Co., Ltd.
Construction Drawing Design: Guangdong New Chang’an Architectural Design Institute
Location: Shantou, China
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