NEW BUILDING / EDUCATION
BRIEF :
The main intention of this project is to develop a brand new supportive and future proof primary school which reflect both modern and future learning theory that shapes children’s learning and behaviour.
Traditional classroom based teaching no long suit today’s children. Researches suggested that the future of learning is an socialised, informal, and collaborative education, and technology will be fully integrated as the major teaching tool & learning “toy” in school. The 21st-century children have the access to a broad range of knowledge, and they desire to discover, explore and construct their own knowledge. Several specific design themes from case studies could be integrate with the design case study, including but not limited to:
- Flexible space design
- Environmental design
- Social, informal and physical context
- Integrate with ICT. (Information Communication and Technology)
PROJECT DESCRIPTION :
The concept was to design a school with clear architectural diagram, combining necessary internal relationships with clear way finding and flexible teaching environments, while giving the external envelope a playful yet strong sense of identity and a distinct presence in the community
The challenge of the design is to evaluate the performance of proposed learning environment, because certain period of occupants usage is required in order to fully evaluate the design from practical perspective. However, from theoretical perspective, the design could be evaluate from following contexts which discovered from literature and practice researches:
> SAFETY
Safety concern is simply the most important factor in any youth facility. The design of the school should eliminate any design that may become harmful to all occupants, no hidden or tight spaces should exist. Also from a wider perspective, the school should have clear boundaries that keep student inside and separate from unwanted “visitors”.
> SCHOOL FLEXIBILITY AND FUTURE PROOF
The first thing of a supportive learning environment is that the school must support different types activities, both academic and socially. The design also take the educational movement of blended learning into consideration, and the design allow easy reformation of the physical setting from the current learning model to future learning model.
>ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL
Apart from the spatial configuration, other physical environment has strong impact to the occupants’ comforts that directly affect the learning outcomes. Therefore, the environment are controlled and designed. These environments include: Daylight, Sunlight, Ventilation, Scales, Atmosphere, Acoustic & Materials.
> PLAY SPACES
For children in primary school, the physical development are considered as important as their cognitive development. Large outdoor spaces provided and support sports activities, also be able to occupy all students at certain stages. Also due to the extreme climate, especially in winter season, outdoor activity seems almost impossible as daily activity. Therefore, the school should allow similar activity indoor as well. This issue is addressed by introducing the gymnasium.
