Redevelopment Of Pingshan Elementary School Into A Nine-year Integrated School
REDEVELOPMENT OF PINGSHAN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL INTO A NINE-YEAR INTEGRATED SCHOOL
CCDI Dongxiying Studio
ARCHITECTS
CCDI Dongxiying Studio
LEAD ARCHITECTS
Zhu Xiongyi, Wang Zhaoming
CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT
Hainan Citic Urban Development And Operation Co., LTD.
INTERIOR DESIGN
Feng Minqiang, Zhang WAN
LANDSCAPE DESIGN
Yue Qinghua, Wang Ruiqing, Yang Lin
CLIENTS
Shenzhen Nanshan Public Works Bureau
SCHEME DESIGN TEAM
Mo Langheng, Li Xin, Liu Lei, Li Daifu, Zhou Jiaxu, Zhang Yinong, Ye Yizhe
CONSTRUCTION DRAWING DESIGN
Cao Jianwei, Zhu Dalong, Guan Wei, Huang Chuan, Luo Tao, Wang Wentao, Cao Shaohui, Hu Yingsong, Shao Linjie, Zhu Yongbin, Huang Jiawei, Yang Jichao, Kang Shaojun
COLLABORATORS
Shenzhen Youdu Landscape Design Studio, Guangdong Jinglong Construction Group Co.,
PHOTOGRAPHS
Zhaoming Wang, Xiongyi Zhu, Yanjie Xu
AREA
63981 m²
YEAR
2024
LOCATION
Shenzhen, China
CATEGORY
Elementary & Middle School
English description provided by the architects.
LOCATION ANALYSIS
The Dasha River Ecological Corridor flows along the western side of the site and empties into the sea, using water as a link to connect various educational and urban public facilities.
Leveraging the improvement of the Dasha River, Pingshan School has become a significant spatial node at the northern end of the Dasha River.
THE BRIDGE AS AN ANCHOR OF THE LANDSCAPE
Heidegger believed that the bridge is a symbol of humans' poetic dwelling on the earth, transforming a site without meaning into a place rich with significance.
The site is adjacent to the Dasha River Ecological Corridor on its west side, offering superior landscape resources. According to the campus's functions, we have rationally arranged the classrooms in a north-south orientation at appropriate intervals.
Auxiliary and functional classrooms are positioned on the west side, connected to each classroom unit by an east-west double corridor. This corridor also serves as a horizontal shading element on the west side.
The building mass on the west side is stepped back from north to south, providing views of the Dasha River landscape flowing in from the south in the distance. The southern corner of the building is set back from the street space, while the northern portion is partially hollowed out to form a transportation node. The central section is partially expanded to create a multi-story atrium space connected by open staircases, serving as a social and interaction area for students and a place for short breaks between classes.
The north-south corridor serves as a connection, embodying the functional aspect of a "bridge." When it meets the Dasha River, the "bridge" acts as an anchor for the site, becoming a medium of place. Meanwhile, activities between classes provide a space for natural encounters, allowing students to step away from the "classroom" and offering a new venue for education. Georg Simmel noted that the beauty of a bridge lies in its ability to achieve liberation by elevating above the ground.
The space created in this site along the Dasha River thus feels like a detached realm, transcending the physical location and allowing people to experience genuine freedom and ease.
In recent years, a large number of overpasses in Shenzhen have been planted with bougainvillea. Every year around March and April, as the weather warms and spring blooms, the bougainvillea—predominantly in shades of purple and pink—bursts into vibrant growth along the overpasses, forming a distinctive urban landscape.
Inspired by this, we have designed planter boxes along the edges of the corridor, planting bougainvillea to create a three-dimensional "flower bridge" along the Dasha River. When spring arrives, this too will become a scenic highlight on the Dasha River: on ordinary days, I gaze upon the Dasha River; in spring, the Dasha River gazes back at me.
STRUCTURE AS THE EXPRESSION OF RATIONALITY
The French architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, when discussing structural rationality, once said: "Maintaining functional truth is to meet the needs of practical use, while maintaining the truth of the construction process is to utilize the characteristics of materials."
In the design, the spacing between the north and south classrooms is utilized to accommodate large public spaces such as the library, auditorium, swimming pool, indoor sports hall, and canteen, arranged sequentially from south to north on the ground floor and the floor below.
To avoid interference with the large spaces on the ground floor, some structural columns are merged, creating inclined columns above to meet functional requirements and provide spatial implications.
The swimming pool and indoor sports hall are centrally located and designed to be open, facilitating ventilation without disrupting the spatial flow of the ground floor's elevated area. A waffle slab system is used for the roof to achieve a large-span spatial structure.
Since a diagonal grid layout can improve structural efficiency by 25%, the angle of the waffle slab is rotated by 45 degrees, making the roof structure more independent. Meanwhile, the evenly distributed diagonal concrete grid beams horizontally extend the visual focus to other areas of the campus, eventually blending into the surrounding natural environment.
OPEN AND SHARED CAMPUS
A shared "T"-axis is established along the Dasha River, transforming it into a campus "stage" that showcases vibrant student activities.
All shared facilities are arranged along the "T"-axis, serving both the elementary and middle school clusters on the northern and southern sides.
The western side adopts a double-corridor design, with sections of the open gallery expanded to facilitate student activities between classes. Additionally, the elevated space beneath the gallery can be utilized for outdoor teaching and learning activities.
ON-SITE REORGANIZATION AND SEAMLESS PHASED INTEGRATION CAMPUS CONSTRUCTION MODEL
This model, during the phased construction and planning layout stages, has fully considered the school's need for normal operation during the construction period.
Through the collaborative optimization of design and construction measures, it ensures the smooth completion of the campus reconstruction project without disrupting daily teaching activities.
Furthermore, during the construction process, the school can utilize the community sports facilities on the northern side through a scheduled sharing arrangement.
