Wuxi Xinfang Experimental Middle School / c+d Design Center

Texture – The main body of the existing primary school building has a traditional fishbone layout, with a public corridor in the center and three or four rows of building volumes on the left of right side which are filled with standard classrooms and specialized classrooms, forming a semi-enclosed public courtyard in between. Based on this, the design corresponds to the existing layout directly with an addition of four new fishbones and a long straight volume along the river on the east side, which expands the original semi-open courtyard space of the existing primary school and encloses it into three new landscaped courtyards. The courtyards can penetrate into each other on the ground floor. Standing on the outdoor platform on the second floor which connects the existing part and the newly built part, one can see the activities happening in the courtyards on both sides. At the same time, it also makes the original six similar courtyards different from each other, with varied spatial scales and atmospheres, while the old and the new buildings are naturally combined as a whole.

Stepping back – Stepping back is the key strategy of this design, which solves several problems as below:

Better sunlight and ventilation – The building volume rises from 2 storeys on the southernmost side to 6 storeys on the northernmost side, which forms the layout of low-in-south and high-in-north, allowing as many classrooms as possible to obtain sufficient sunlight. At the same time, somewhere on the building volumes between two courtyards is hollowed out to form ventilation paths, thus ensuring better ventilation for more classrooms. Abundant sunlight and ventilation help to a certain extent to curb the breeding of germs, providing students with a healthier and more comfortable learning and living environment, which is also a new health-oriented design consciousness and strategy consciously generated in the coronavirus period.

More and easier access to outdoor spaces – One of the key problems with high-density campuses is the lack of outdoor space, which is essential for primary and secondary school students. “Stepping back” is an excellent strategy for providing more outdoor space in a high-density campus. In this case, with the design and organization of terraces, each floor is guaranteed an outdoor activity space serving exclusively to the classrooms of the same floor. Compared to the short break of 10 minutes between classes, the stepping-back design in the high-density environment seems to be an easier way to buy more time for outdoor activities. In the final scheme of the design, all of the outdoor space, except where it is occupied by the architecture, has almost been returned to the students.

More appropriate spatial scales – Thanks to the terraces that are formed by stepping back strategy, the scale of the building can be better controlled. The oppressive spatial scale of 25 meters wide and 5~6 storeys high, which might exist under the traditional model, is mostly dissolved into 1~2 storeys, with a large number of roof terraces facing the river and the distant place without any obstruction, which also allows students to breathe more freely. The reduction of architectural scale not only brings relaxation to the body but also brings pleasure to the spirit at the same time.

Richer and more vivid architectural forms – There is no doubt about the advantage of the setback in shaping the volume of the building. In this case, within the extremely limited site area, the stepping back strategy not only solves the problems such as functions, sunlight, ventilation, outdoor space, architectural scale, etc., but also forms a rich and vivid architectural form, layer by layer, like a mountain. This form is completely deduced from the functional demand: pushing in where there needs to be an entrance plaza, pulling out where there needs to be connected to the existing primary school, which forms a kind of logical rather than decorative aesthetic experience. Eventually, the newly built part presents a completely different sense of view from different positions, angles, and heights.

Space – Although facing the objective difficulties of a small site and high density, the design still set up some more experiential architectural spaces as much as possible. For example, on the east side along the river, several two-story public spaces have been set up, which can be used as places for leisure and interaction, or for looking at the river view when standing here; in the southwest corner of the building, a sunken outdoor plaza has been set up close to the multi-functional hall, which can be used as a place for reading; in the center of the ground floor, a performance area with terraces and an open space with skylight have been set up close to the combined classrooms. Even though the space is small and limited, we still hope to create an interesting space with rich height variations, light and shadow, and twists and turns.

Façade – After the completion of architectural volume and space, there is not much left to do with the façade, which is actually enough by pulling through the horizontal railing on each level. However, from the conventional “design” perspective, the “façade design” is a mandatory action that cannot be bypassed, which costs us a second thought. Since there is a river on the east side, we made some changes called “water ripples” to the façade, which is actually a continuation of the façade practice of the Yongjiang Experimental School many years ago, but with some upgrades to make it look like more three-dimensional sense. When the lightings are turned up at night, the façade looks really sparkling up. Standing on the 312 national highway and looking from the east side, with the reflection of the façade in the water, the building looks like a big ship sailing on the sea. Unintentionally, the building itself has become another interpretation of “there is no royal road to learning”.

Epilogue – This project is an attempt to explore the design of a high-density campus under extreme site conditions. In terms of general strategy, only through “Stepping back”, a series of key issues such as functions, sunlight, ventilation, outdoor space, building scale, and so on are solved at the same time. In terms of specific methods, through double height, sinking space, and zigzag path, a spatial effect of a three-dimensional garden has been created. The on-site experience of this project is much better than the photographs, which is very gratifying.