Future International School

“Beneath the Branches of Peaches and Plums” – A Future International School The design for this international school, situated within a technology and research campus in southern China, embraces a concept from Chinese literature: “Beneath the branches of peaches and plums”. The design aims to provide a joyful, open and comfortable setting that recalls the earliest idea of a school from thousands of years ago, when knowledge and ideas were shared and exchanged spontaneously under the canopy of a tree. The main campus is designed to emerge from its surroundings like a shade-filled forest emerges from a hillside – since in this part of China, shade is more important than sunshine. The tree-based design concept for the campus structures creates an abundance of comfortable shade, harnessing natural ventilation and minimising the building footprint at the lower levels of the five-storey teaching blocks, in turn creating active social spaces and green areas at the base of the towers. The upper stories function as dormitories for boarding students and staff members, with spaces that branch out to form an internal “living courtyard” – a central court in each building cluster that produces a stack effect, enhancing natural ventilation in transitional spaces and providing semi-outdoor learning and recreational spaces at the lower floors. A sky deck at the top level of each building links the towers together to form a canopy, giving the students a fresh, “mid-air” perspective on the campus and helping open their minds to new ideas. In the schools of the future, classrooms should be flexible and readily accommodate different modes of teaching. Here, hexagonal classrooms are proposed, as this versatile model allows many different teaching and learning configurations: Group discussions, presentations, traditional lectures, and even virtual reality experiences. Connected to every three classrooms is a fourth breakout classroom which will act as a social space for students; and if a larger space is required – for inter-class assemblies or festive celebrations for example – all the classrooms can easily be connected and combined. Formal performances and informal sharing sessions both contribute to the unique culture and success of a school. At the main entrance to this future campus, a sunken central plaza will host large-scale celebrations or performances and interactive events for all students, creating a focus for the school community. Meanwhile, the teaching complex at the east of the campus, with its high zone teaching offices, will encourage informal sharing sessions and other smaller-scale activities through the open spaces of the low zone and a series of terraces that integrate into the landscape.