Project Description
FROM THE ARCHITECTS:
Since 2009, Atelier Y has been participating in the construction of rural kindergartens in under-developed regions in China. In its capacity as an architecture firm, Atelier Y has been exploring architectural design strategies that can help in solving practical rural issues.
Project Background
Jixian kindergarten—One Foundation's kindergarten donation program in Ya’an—is part of the reconstruction efforts taking place after the Lushan earthquake and is located in Tangjia Township, Hanyuan County.
Concentration and Openness
A tight budget limited the project area to 2940㎡, although the construction standards specifies an area of at least 4300㎡ for a 12-class kindergarten. Hence, the 12 activity rooms are stacked in three layers on the side of the site adjoining the school and are joined by a wide corridor. The nap and music/sports rooms are separately inserted in the main structure in the form of small one- or two-story boxes, with the rooftops of the boxes turned into multiple outdoor spaces. Meanwhile, part of the ground floor structure is left open as an entrance.
Cluster, Street, and Interaction
For the purpose to shorten the distance for children to reach the ground-level playground, more open, intimate spaces are provided on various floors, just like a vertically stacked cluster, children are able to play and interact in the interspaces between the building structures. Utilizing the rooftops at different elevations, the design creates multiple spaces for class activities on the second and third floors, giving rise to both a sense of territory and openness.
In order to create more possibilities for activity, the corridor is designed to be wide and irregular as a ‘street’, which resemble the roads connected with the neighboring village.
All functional rooms of the kindergarten face the corridor, and their doors and windows have different expressions. The deep-set window boxes are shaped into niches of different heights.
Site and Premises
There is a four-meters height difference in the site: highest in the south and lowest in the north. The outdoor ground maintains the original terrain. The northernmost music/sports room and the rising steps form a small outdoor theater, connecting by the playground platforms, gradually rising toward the south with the play equipment area and the botanical garden. The highest point in the south eventually joins with the corridor on the second floor, forming a spatial loop.
Perimeter and Integration
According to relevant safety regulations, the enclosure was alternated from a void fenced space into an area enclosed by a solid perimeter wall, which enhances the sense of domain for the kindergarten, with children frolicking inside and farmers working on the farmlands outside. However, the inside-outside communication is temporarily blocked on the ground floor, making the ground-floor playground a pure internal space, while the terraces and corridors on the second and third floors provide the views to the outside.
The text has been lightly edited for clarity.