Client: Hua Yan Group

Type: Competition (School)

Size / Date: 40,000 SF / 2015




The “Playgarden” proposal for a kindergarten in Ruichang, China finds architectural expression in the root of the word “kindergarten,” originally coined by the German educator Friedrich Froebel as a “garden of children.” The project is based on these two essential aspects: the garden and the space for children. “Playgarden” consists of three design elements: a single-story “green loop” building, a main building expressed as a “carved volume,” and an outdoor courtyard.


The courtyard is not entirely enclosed—it is partially open through a series of shaded verandahs that allow natural breezes to enter while filtering the air and reducing street noise. The “carved volume” uses Passivhaus environmental strategies-- extra insulation produces thick thermal envelopes that are used for air and water conservation systems. The “green loop” includes a continuous green roof that covers a series of indoor playrooms that can be entirely open to the courtyard in mild weather.







External Links:
Passivhaus: The World's Leading Fabric First Approach to Low Energy Buildings
A top-down approach to flood prevention (Arup)
China’s Great Uprooting: Moving 250 Million Into Cities (NY Times)

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As Froebel originally noted of the kindergarten’s educational process, the organization of the exterior spaces promotes outward relationships from within. “Playgarden” promotes this idea through the design of flexible, open play areas that foster children’s creativity. Each play space promotes different activities for the age groups—two and three-year-old toddlers use enclosed indoor play areas in the “green loop”, while four to six-year-olds have large open areas in the “carved volume” that are adaptable and permeable to other activity areas.



Each of these areas is designed to create a different experience for the children, with movable elements that can be reconfigured each day. A central support core provides structure as well as houses a series of modular walls and lightweight furniture. This central core organizes the main building into different thermal zones, based on the activities of each subdivided area.


“Playgarden’s” main building provides a range of climate response during Ruichang’s seasons. Clad in local stone with extra insulation to meet Passivehaus code, the main building’s exterior wall’s large windows are set deep back to maximize shading during the summer, and are operable during the spring and fall. Excess hot air is evacuated through an air gap in the central support core and through operable skylights. The roof form incorporates peaks and valleys that ventilates air, captures rainwater, and filters sunlight. Rainwater would be held and used for grey-water systems within the kindergarten and irrigation for the “green loop’s” roof plantings. The roof also houses a garden that allows children to engage with the activity of growing plants-- synthesizing the water and air design strategies in the “garden of children.”


Project Team: Phu Hoang, Rachely Rotem, Peeraya Suphasidh, Kamilla Csegzi

Credits: Estudio UCS (Renderings)