Jiading Highschool

Clad in a double skin of Danpalon, the college is an inward-looking building : perceived from the exterior as a pure and abstracted space, school life can proceed in privacy, sheltered from the bustle of the town.

In order to permit the development of recreation yards of sufficient dimensions, notwithstanding the extreme density of construction on the plot, we have elected to construct the majority of buildings on piles. The preference for simple and strictly grid-patterned façades reflects our commitment to integration in the locale, with the involvement of local expertise in the proposed architecture. The traditional structural grid has thus been observed, as has the post and beam principle. We have focused on the serial quality of architectural elements to be deployed. Frame structures, handrails, gangways, double-skin cladding – repetitive use of the same elements has allowed us to achieve the optimum quality management of this build, which has been a major issue in the light of the generally unskilled labour involved in this project.