© Yu Xu
Architects: LYCS Architecture
Location: Tiantai, Taizhou, Zhejiang, China
Area: 10190.0 sqm
Year: 2014
Photographs: Yu Xu, Shengliang Su
Project Team: Ruan Hao, Yuan Zhan, Gary He, Shanliang Jin, Lina Chen
Architect Of Record: Zhejiang University Urban Research & Design Institute
From the architect. The project for the TianTai No.2 Primary School strives for a unique design that will serve as a model school which provides a beautiful environment for the cultivation of knowledge, culture, physical fitness, art and ethics for elementary school children. The project effectively solving the problem of land shortage in the old city.
The 200m running track calls for 40% of the land if we put the playground on the ground as the normal way, then the space of the campus will be very cramped. At the same time, it is necessary to ensure students a playground to have sports and activities. With land scarce, the 200m running track was projected onto the roof level, giving an additional 3000+ sqm of usable area on the ground as well as the oval shape of the school building, creating a sense of inwardness and security for the students.
Lifting the running track also allows for a total project height of 4 floors instead of 5 as originally required, creating a more harmonious relationship between the new school and the surrounding urban context. In order to create more available green courtyard spaces, the building is twisted about 15 degrees, creating smaller pockets of space between the site wall and the exterior envelope.
The rooftop track has 3 layers of guardrail to guarantee the safety of students. The exterior layer is 1.8m high tempered glass wall, the middle layer is 50cm wide green belt, the interior layer is 1.2m high stainless steel guardrail. For the issue of noise, the spring cushions are put every 50x 50cm under the plastic track, thus reducing the further kinetic noise by means of the double-layer structure.
ArchPlanet 