Shanghai temporary school compound in Tongfuli plot

The temporary school compound in Shanghai's Tongfuli plot is situated in the complex urbanized, high-density urban area of Shanghai, close to People's Square. It will cater to a 12-class kindergarten and a 15-class primary school. The school compound's design ensures that both schools' pedagogical needs are met, while also considering the potential future use of other vacated schools. The emergence of new buildings in this area will reflect the symbiosis between the contemporary and the traditional in the city, which will present an 'alive' school compound in the city and aims to immerse students in the vibrant city surrounding them. To make the building more compact and efficient and to provide more daylight, the enclosed layout and double external corridors have been designed to create a free and interesting campus space with internal and external links in the current situation of tight space.

The 'enclosure layout' forms the basic backbone of the school, maintaining the continuity of the street and allowing users the opportunity to engage with the city through the buildings; at the same time, the buildings enclose the internal activity areas, allowing for more possibilities to connect the various teaching and learning scenarios. In addition, the two groups of buildings enclosed to the north and south can be divided and combined to allow for the possibility of vacating the school in the future. The “double exterior corridor” spatial organization is a way of unfolding the functions of the school as a whole, with standardized classrooms, teaching rooms, and corner staircases arranged in a regular pattern; at the same time, it is also a clue to the unfolding of school life, where children can gather, look away and laze around for 10 minutes between classes, creating a very lively image and providing a vibrant image of the school in the urban street.