"It takes a village to raise a child!" – An African proverb that underpins the value of a community being engaged in a child’s upbringing. The diversity of people and places that create it, offering them experiences to grow in safe and healthy environments.

It takes a kindergarten to wake up a community

Visiting Shuoji the strong recognition from the design team that what was needed here was not just a kindergarten building, but a facility that delivers child-centered spaces that are anchored in the values of a “village”, the responsibility of family, community and society to offer the richest concern on raising a child.

The architectural form imitates the local village dwellings around it and at the same time stands out with its simplified volumes. Our design from the outside standing as a symbol reminding that the future success of the “village” is a collective effort, and focused on the inside from the perspective of children as the primary user.

Children learn by doing and in the case this means learning through a lot of play. Each building houses a self-contained community for smaller groups of children. Throughout the central outdoor environment the arrangement of buildings and yards entices inquisitive exploration and free play, weaving through the contracting and expanding spaces between the buildings, making visual connections and multiple options for circulation.