The Village


New Learning Block, Yew Wah International School, Guangzhou, China | year: 2024 | status: phase II - built | area: 15,960m2 | type: Education | team: Annette Chu, Tommy Yeung & Natalie Dungey | master plan in collaboration with Studio Zhai

With the mountain as the backdrop, the New Learning Block takes on a linear form to create a transparent building mass, allowing students to constantly view the school complex in the south and the nature in the north.

It is a 93m-long, 5-storeys building, with all 32 classrooms enjoying expansive views over the 400m running track and open fields. Vast southern vistas, an elevated presence, and lush northern greenery create an open, inviting environment for the school community. At ground level, a shaded arcade offers generous covered connections to the landscape. On upper floors, classrooms pair as learning studios with shared commons in between. Continuous cantilevered balconies—featuring exposed beams for honest structural expression—bring fluid circulation, abundant natural light, ventilation, and playful shade patterns. Subtle shifts and angles in classroom pairs break facade monotony, while white textured paint amplifies light and shadow play across the beams and surfaces.

Internally, the open learning spaces flow and create a diversity of spatial quality while maintaining maximum flexibility to adapt the continuously evolving learning experiences.

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With the mountain as the backdrop, the New Learning Block takes on a linear form to create a transparent building mass, allowing students to constantly view the school complex in the south and the nature in the north.

It is a 93m-long, 5-storeys building, with all 32 classrooms enjoying expansive views over the 400m running track and open fields. Vast southern vistas, an elevated presence, and lush northern greenery create an open, inviting environment for the school community. At ground level, a shaded arcade offers generous covered connections to the landscape. On upper floors, classrooms pair as learning studios with shared commons in between. Continuous cantilevered balconies—featuring exposed beams for honest structural expression—bring fluid circulation, abundant natural light, ventilation, and playful shade patterns. Subtle shifts and angles in classroom pairs break facade monotony, while white textured paint amplifies light and shadow play across the beams and surfaces.

Internally, the open learning spaces flow and create a diversity of spatial quality while maintaining maximum flexibility to adapt the continuously evolving learning experiences.

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