Beijing Zhengze School, Ping'anli Campus

-The Warmth of Design as a Blessingto Children

Led by Principal Li Lie, thePing'anli Campus of Beijing Zhengze School, invested and undertaken by theFinancial Street Education Company, is upgraded from the nearly century-oldYanjing Paper Mill.

01/ Challenges

From an Old Paper Mill to aModern High School

In Beijing, most of the first-classprimary and secondary schools are concentrated in the old urban areas of thecity center: on the one hand, they have a long history; on the other hand, theyhave always been staffed by top-notch teachers. Among them is Ping'anli Campusof Beijing Zhengze School. As the high-density buildings in these areas and theconstraints of urban planning make it difficult to expand the area or changethe exterior design of the original structure, the construction requires the maximizeduse of every inch of the land to meet the diversified needs of teaching.

02/ History

The site used to house the YanjingPaper Mill, which was founded in 1933 with the support of General ZhangXueliang. Prior to the construction of the school, it had been abandoned formany years. Thanks to the team led by Principal Li Lie, the mill, with itsoriginal structure preserved and actual circumstance considered, wastransformed into a modern and international "Mysterious School". Thespace, expressing the vision and thoughtfulness of a renowned educator in everydetail, had Principal Li herself involved in the design and construction.

03/ Rebirth

Focusing on the Atria

Prior to the transformation into ateaching space, the comprehensive building used to be a paper mill and a wetmarket. The cultural legacy of the preserved historic district is perfectlyaligned with the prestige of Beijing Zhengze School.

The transformation focuses on twolarge atria: the entrance atrium is more like an open library, with doubleshelves inspired by the Oxford Library over 600 years ago, and the atrium inthe Lecture Square connects the upper and lower floors, which not only expandsthe teaching space, but also allows for public speeches. Skylight from theceiling add dynamism and light to the whole structure, and the naturalconnection of the upper and lower floors presents a smooth interior space.

Silicon Valley of BeijingZhengze School

The craft classroom is designed tocreate an open, factory-like space to encourage children to explore the unknownworld with their own hands.

Lecture Hall

Movable steel structures are erectedin the warehouse, turning it into a 300-seat lecture theater. This functionalspace, following the principles of acoustics design, features suspendedacoustic panels to deliver sound experience almost identical to each student.In addition, the sound-absorbing holes on the walls, with special water-wavedesign, intend to echo the spirit of the Beijing Zhengze School: the Chinesecharacter "ze" in the name stands for "water".

Gymnasium

The warehouse-turned gymnasiumaccommodates to its maximum capacity one standard basketball court and twobadminton courts. The use of sound absorption and anti-collision materialsreduces echoes and the risk of collision injuries resulting from the compactbuffer zone.

Classrooms&Laboratory

The former bungalow-style factorybuilding is converted into a biology classroom with full skylight, allowingchildren to observe objects and learn biology in an environment that can bestreveal the true color.

The design of the classrooms aims to"allow students to carry out a variety of active and independent learningactivities with an emphasis on learning over teaching". The installment ofwindows enables a combination of skylights and lamps to provide perfectlighting, which is rarely seen in a high-density urban area.

04/ Design Value

Delivering the Warmth of Education

Despite the constraints on the sizeof teaching spaces in the old urban area, the inherent cultural legacy leftover by the historic buildings gives the school a literary temperament, whichis a blessing to the children. Every corner of the renovated school is imbuedwith the warmth of education. In line with the teaching philosophy and culturalsubstance of Beijing Zhengze School, the concentrated, flexible, andcomprehensive space that advocates openness and sharing delivers the uniquecharm of this "Mysterious School" in a subtle way.

Project Name: Beijing Zhengze School(Ping'anli Campus)

Chief Design Consultant: Shi Hua& WIT

Space Strategy & InteriorDesign: Shi Hua and WIT Design & Research

Architectural & StructureDesign: Beijing Institute of Architectural Design (Wang Dawei and his Team)

Mechatronics Design: Beijing AofuTechnology Company

Lighting Design Consultant: TungstenStudio

Acoustics Consultant: Luo Zehong

Photography: A Thousand DegreeVisualConstruction

Area: 10,000㎡