Excerpt: The 120-Division School by WAU Design, drawing inspiration from the surrounding mountains, incorporates sloped roofs that rise from the ground to blend architecture with landscape. Featuring rooftops that provide outdoor spaces for students, the design echoes Shanxi’s traditional cave dwellings. With natural ventilation, rainwater collection, and sustainable design, the project merges tradition and education in a dynamic environment.
Project Description
[Text as submitted by architect] The 120-division School, designed by WAU Design, was completed in 2016. The school, including 72 classrooms, teacher’s office, library, lecture hall and sports center is located in the new developing area of Xingxian, ShanXi province.
Our vision for the design is to create an image of range upon range of mountains just like the natural environment the site has. The building rises up from the ground floor to the rooftop, this makes the slope roof to be an extension and development of the ground floor landscape. The roof with a high accessibility creates a playful outdoor space for children having different kinds of activities.
An interesting mix of landscape and building makes different space experiences for the students. The intersection parts of different roofs form the public lobby with patios around, this not only blurs the distinction between interior and exterior but also organically connects different programs such as classrooms, office, library, etc.
The building has roofs with various inclinations, we make the lower part to be a public terrace for the upper level. In addition, such roofing reflects the cave dwellings in Shanxi, extending the historical context of the site.
In energy conservation, the design responds to local climate. The shape of the building takes full consideration of wind to have good ventilation. In addition, patios not only create the Greenhouse Effect, but also act as rainwater collectors to improve the microenvironment. The most important, concrete masonry backup, brick veneer, together with air space in between, formed the “Respirable Wall”, which helps to improve thermal and insulating performance and reduce energy consumption for heating and cooling.
After all, this design conveys the regeneration of traditional architecture, creates a brand new atmosphere of teaching building, and enhances the students’ perception of the experience of space.
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