A school is a community: a micro-society. The act of learning is to be achieved by means of active participation of the learners with the environment, through a journey of self-discovery and investigation. The spatial concept for Cheung Sha Wan Primary School is to bring students and teachers together with the playground, central ball court and other spaces, to encourage interaction through various activities.
The school is located in a densely populated neighbourhood. Like in most urban infill sites, high-rise residential buildings surround the plot, overlooking the school ground leaving limited views from within. As a result, the school is spatially designed with an inner focus to form the heart of the activities. Like an outdoor theatre, the central ball court is therefore located in the centre of the school campus, embraced by an articulated circular ramp and an existing tree of 9m high, creating an embodiment, pulling together spaces and creates a central focal point.
The assembly hall, functional teaching rooms and classrooms are arranged in different blocks around the central ball court. From the entrance plaza, through the covered playground, the coloured ceiling creates a continuity of axis leading to the circular ramp. Open corridors, balconies, overlooking terraces, benches and big windows are designed on different levels, facing the circular ramp, to bring closer the different spaces and activities, encouraging interactions as in the form of an outdoor theatre. Students have the opportunity to connect the experience of adventures or events from one space to another through the connecting spaces. They can also choose to visit the parts that capture their intrigue.
Our vision for Cheung Sha Wan Primary School is an opportunity for developing and enhancing the sense of arts through a series of picturesque frame highlighting elements and features. The museum like design encourages an intimacy with the "galleries", housing cabinets of curiosities.
On-grade planting and green roof provide green scenery for the interiors, composing layers of spatial experience, attracting communications between indoor and the open spaces. The selection of materials like fair faced concrete, timber panel, metal screen, together with the ample greenery, create a sense of discovery of spaces, to stimulate the passion for self-discovery.
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