Our client believes in a holistic approach to education. Academic development is considered alongside social and physical development to produce well rounded students, confident in all aspects of life and prepared to move on and take their place in the world. This is very much the philosophy of the modern International School and the International Baccalaureate Learner Profile which encourages ten distinct attributes amongst their students in order to best prepare them to contribute positively at the completion of their schooling.
To design to encourage enquiry and communication, risk taking and open mindedness, as well as reflection and open mindedness would seem to be a large ask for an inanimate object and building are often seen to be. However the chosen form of the buildings responds in a contemporary manner to match these same usage requirements both within its walls and in the landscapes that surround it. We worked with our client to not only highlight each teaching area within the campus, but also allow for those quiet spaces, those spaces of discovery or reflection or casual encounters or group discussion.
Fortunately, GSA was engaged not only for Architecture and Interior Design but also the landscape, such an essential ingredient to provide a connection to nature, to identify different moods and settings and enhance the environment inside and outside the proposed school buildings. We developed link-ways and connections from the landscape to assist in softening the environment, to provide shared experiences and create a vibrancy to outdoor, semi outdoor and adjacent interior spaces.
The same ideas of linkage, from outside to inside, from natural to built environment were also driving forces between the disparate buildings. Bridges and links are made from primary to middle school and up to secondary. Shared facilities bring students together whilst specialised areas also give them their personal space. The entire interconnected learning journey from kindergarten to final graduation is reflected in multi modal usage patterns enabled by the interior design.
This is a building that serves as a learning tool, one that students can explore, can retreat to, can venture forth from. It is their connection to each other, to their teachers and their education and to their future.
Thien is a Principal and General Director leading our Vietnam studio. Thien is one of the few internationally Chartered Architects in Vietnam today. He has extensive experience working on large-scale projects worldwide, including the UK, Norway, Canada, Bermuda, Africa, Dubai, and Australia. In Vietnam, he is registered as a Class 1 Architect and master planner and sits on the Vietnam Green Building Council Board of Directors.
