I
n Mulan Village, Huaiji, Guangdong Province, the
construction of the high speed rail created a huge
incision into the landscape and a repository of
earth at the back of an existing primary school.
This slope was unstable and also led to flood
damage of the old courtyard building. This school
was designated for expansion and the architect’s
commission was to design an educational
landscape involving the creation of a new school
block, a toilet and a playground.
The architect’s strategy was to organise the site as a
series of sequential open spaces, linking the courtyards
between the existing school, the new building and
the playground. The loose earth of the slope was recontoured and retained through the creation of a
reed-bed filtration system and toilet that edged the
basketball court. The reed-bed channels bifurcate and
split apart to create small discovery gardens and play
spaces.
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The roof of the new building is a continuous ribbon
that rises from the ground as a series of steps forming a
new public space and outdoor classroom. The steps are
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