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Architects: Architecture & Engineers of Southeast University
- Area: 103327 m²
- Year: 2022
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Lead Architect: Jin Ma
Text description provided by the architects. Located in the middle of Yuhuatai District, Nanjing, Yuhua Campus of Zhonghua High School is one of the top five relocation projects in Nanjing, with a gross site area of 12.15 hectares and a gross built area of 103,326.73 sqm. On August 30th, the launch ceremony of Yuhua Campus of Zhonghua High School was held, marking the official use of "STREAM Learning Center", which is a material platform for the future development of a new teaching model combining theory and practice and interdisciplinary integration.
In order to connect the east and west campuses, which are separated by the urban road, and to increase the efficiency of teachers and students, the design uses two north-south overpasses to connect the learning center, gymnasium, cafeteria, and auditorium to form a " Ring of Knowledge", thus connecting the most important buildings in the school closely together on the second-floor loop. The enclosed loop forms the "Central Park": the entrance squares of the east and west campuses are opposite each other, which combines the most core open space of the campus. The two ends of the east-west etiquette axis are respectively set up with the administration tower and the clock tower as the receiving points of the axis. The design makes full use of the height difference of the site, not only reducing the volume of earthwork but also creating a three-dimensional green campus landscape.
The east and west of the campus are separated from each other. The east is mainly for living and the other is mainly for learning. East: The International Department is located in the northwest corner of the east campus, including 18 international classrooms. There is an auditorium that can hold 1500 people. The dormitory area adopts a courtyard layout, which can accommodate more than 1700 students.
West: The teaching building is located in the northwest corner of the west campus, which is divided into three parallel buildings arranged on one side according to the grade, and each building holds 20 ordinary classrooms. These three buildings are connected by a shared corridor, and the teacher's office is located on each floor by the corridor, facilitating communication between teachers and students. The administration building is located at the central axis of the west area, echoing the tower from afar, and commanding the school. Its facade adopts a dry hanging grey brick curtain wall, echoing the architectural style of the old campus. The first and second floors of the canteen & gymnasium are canteens, which can accommodate about 2000 teachers and students to have meals at the same time. The third floor is a gymnasium and art training hall. The runway is placed in the building, and the skylight can meet indoor lighting needs. Innovation: STREAM Learning Center, the "core spiritual fortress" of the campus, is located at the main entrance of the West Campus.
The education of students should be coordinated in many aspects. From the perspective of the sociality of education, the architect conceived the new teaching group mode of "STREAM Learning Center", which responded to the 13th Five-Year Plan of Education Informatization issued by the Ministry of Education in 2016 and was highly recognized by the school. On the basis of traditional STEM, the teaching method of STREAM integrates the functions of reading and art, which not only cultivates students' literacy in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics but also focuses on the cultivation of students' Art and Reading literacy. Only in the collision of disciplines can students achieve deep learning and understanding of learning.
The STREAM center takes the form of a "complex", which brings all the specialized educational housing together. Professional classrooms are arranged tightly around, while the open space for students' self-study is set around the atrium, forming a rich choice of internal paths, providing diversified choices for students' recess and communication, and solving the problem of students' "blank hour" with nowhere to go caused by class schedule.
The skylight on the roof provides daylight, making the connection of sight and the series of lights become the magic of space and time, and obtaining a desire to explore on the feet. Under the skylight is a public step connecting the first floor to the expansion platform and reading room on the second floor, as well as two bridges on the third and fourth floors. The narrowing and changing steps become a space for students to read, communicate and display STEAM achievements between classes. In this way, various functional rooms expand the dimensions of the room through an atrium, bridges, and multiple platforms, organized into vertical three-dimensional activity space, providing a complex and diversified place for students to communicate and research activities.
The outside of STREAM learning Center, through the selection and rotation of functional rooms, a lively external interface is formed, as well as corridors, platforms, and grey Spaces for students to exchange activities. The mutual dialogue between STREAM learning Center and the external environment becomes an outdoor place for students to do activities between classes, facilitating the change of places between classes. With the mechanism of "SRTEAM Learning Center", through the flexible transition of internal and external functional space, the architect realizes interdisciplinary education and informal learning such as the trigger of expected interaction behavior and explores the combination of teaching functions under the "SRTEAM" education mode and the multiple composite space mode that triggers students' communication behavior.
