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Hut and Fields

Eureka

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View from street - Kevin Mak
Library - Kevin Mak
Ariel View of Tai Po and the kindergarten - Kevin Mak
View from street - Kevin Mak

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Comments
Innovation
Functionality
Creativity
Eco-Social Impact
Total
JURY VOTES
Learning Space
7.09
6.87
7.12
6.56
6.91
Haijie Hu
Haijie Hu Cofounder and Creative Director at VAVE Studio
6.99
7.3
7.27
7.16
7.18
Mijail Gutierrez
Mijail Gutierrez Principal and Design Director at Perkins and Will
A great understanding of scale, tru...
8
8
8
7
7.75
Christophe Penasse
Christophe Penasse Cofounder at Masquespacio
7.14
7.24
7.14
7.24
7.19
Hongchao Wang
Hongchao Wang Creative Director and Cofounder at Benwu Studio
6.27
5
6.39
6.47
6.03
Kim Tchai
Kim Tchai Founder and CEO at Tchai International
7.46
6.85
6.96
6.96
7.06
Geoffrey Timmer
Geoffrey Timmer Creative director at Colliers
6.5
6
7
5.6
6.28
Raquel Machado
Raquel Machado Senior Design Associate at M Moser Associates
Great to see a learning space that...
8
7
8
6
7.25
Miriam Zuurbier
Miriam Zuurbier Associate Partner and Creative Director at TANK
Great use of colours for childern....
6.5
7.5
7
6.5
6.88
Güray Oskay
Güray Oskay Director of Architectural Design at ATÖLYE
Great atmosphere and palette for li...
8
8
8
8
8
Rosha Ehsan
Rosha Ehsan Head of Design at Gastronomica Middle East
6.49
6
5.61
6.05
6.04
Madhubala Ayyamperumal
Madhubala Ayyamperumal Design Experience Leader at Gensler
Thoughtfully designed for Kids! Min...
8.47
7.99
8.15
6.15
7.69
Elliot March
Elliot March Cofounder at MAWD
6.29
6.43
6.05
6.1
6.22
Kamna Malik
Kamna Malik Design Curator & Content Strategist at Kamna Malik
6
6
7
6
6.25
Comments
Innovation
Functionality
Creativity
Eco-Social Impact
Total
GRAND JURY VOTES
Shortlisted - Learning Space of the Year
7.66
7.96
8.07
6.56
7.56
Marie Hesseldahl
Marie Hesseldahl Partner and Head of Interior and Product Design at 3xn
Great canvas for learning. Once all...
7.51
8
8
6.56
7.52
John Lam
John Lam Co-Founder and Design Strategist at State of Culture
7.09
7.22
7.12
6.56
7
Güray Oskay
Güray Oskay Director of Architectural Design at ATÖLYE
Great use of color, materials and s...
7.5
8
8
6.56
7.52
Justine Fox
Justine Fox Founder and Colour Specialist at Studio Justine Fox
Really well thought out use of warm...
8.19
8.57
8.25
6.56
7.89
Katie Kasabalis
Katie Kasabalis Cofounder at Kasawoo
I appreciate the play of scales and...
8
8
9
6.56
7.89
Designer
Client
St. Paul's Kindergarten
Floor area
3500 ㎡
Completion
2021
Social Media
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Architecture and Interior

The nursery design is to create a multifaceted arena for the little ones where interesting stories could happen amidst existing bachgrounds. Given a 18m by 30m footprint sitting in a rarely isolated and unique urban lot with 4 candlenut trees, a 7-storey stacking of many otherly worlds slowly emerges. Children can walk through a vast vertical landscape with small huts where they will find each hut is a little different from the other. In search of the right scale for small people, we hope to design from the eyes and minds of children, setting out stages of dreams against a merry garden, foliage of autumn leaves, a sky high-up, a rainy mist... 

The building cores and service areas are situated with an intention to naturally divide the floor plate to 3 big rooms while eliminating the use of doors, encouraging children to run freely and interact. Each room faces a different facade, giving children a sernse of orientation and etching memories of places as they grow up. activity rooms such as library, art room, music room are planned to mingle with classrooms such that children can discover their interest at close proximity as they promote up the classes. At the "fields" where most of the activity rooms are located, large window walls are generously proportioned, opening up the space to become an infinite scene flooded in natural light. 

Open-plan furniture arrangements set out the stages for children to explore and nurture their curiosity. Inside the "hut" are the more refined and clam classroom spaces, where solid walls finished with ceramic tiles characterise the exterior enclosing the room, small windows are punctured to frame views of the immediate context. The interplay of "huts" and "fields" defines one another and varies throughout the seven storeys. 

Concrete column and beam structures supports the scattered "huts" at different levels with the incorporation of ribbed slabs holding up large span of "fields" in between. The material palette incorporates slight transitions across floors, spilling in diverse colour of nature and seasons as children wander. The use of fair-faced concrete with occasional textured relief at large wall surfaces and cores brings in subtle grey hues and depth to the backdrop.