The site for this school, “Hybrid Houses” – Sibao Qibao School (an elementary school campus), is situated within the Qianjiang New City planning area in Hangzhou, surrounded by numerous residential buildings.

Reflecting on the conventional school typology in China, characterized by functionally recognizable buildings with homogeneous architectural types, south-facing classrooms to maximize daylight exposure, and an easy-to-manage approach, Crossboundaries challenges this traditional school design paradigm by adopting a strong educational philosophy perspective.

Our core design concept focuses not on density but on providing a diversified learning experience and activity spaces for children in a high-density school environment. Crossboundaries is introducing two academies, resulting in two independent buildings for grades 1-3 and another two independent buildings for grades 4-6, to foster inter-age communication among students and mitigate bullying on campus. These “houses” are connected via aerial corridors, bridges, and thorough ground-level enclosed spaces.

The school’s southern location allows for optimal solar resource utilization, an optimized indoor-outdoor experience, and a more flexible building layout that forms enclosed ground activity spaces and parks while still meeting sunlight requirements.

In addition to offering common functions for the entire school, each academy includes other facilities that cater to the daily needs of the students. The campus’s overall required area was proportionally increased to serve as a supporting facility for the neighboring residences.

The sports field was positioned in the southwest corner of the site, considering its future use by local residents during non-school hours while accommodating the setbacks. Other challenges, such as the setback from the subway line on the east side and the 80-meter setback from the main road on the north side, were considered in the layout.