Nan Hua Secondary School

Narratives

Architect Narrative

Creating Identity: Historical References
The design is guided by the richness of the school’s 88 years of history. The intention is to maintain links with the past, build on the school’s heritage and tradition, but reinterpreting them to reflect the contemporary learning environment.

Architectural elements are used to reinforce the philosophy of the school, which places great emphasis on the preservation of Chinese values. For example, a row of eight octagonal columns alongside the parade square symbolically represent the eight values of the school motto. This relation to history helps reinforce students’ sense of belonging and instill in them a united school spirit.

Fostering Community: Architecture as “Social Catalyst”
The school is not designed as an austere institution, but broken down into smaller learning communities that students can better identify with. The main spaces are organised as nodes along a primary circulation loop supported by a secondary network criss-crossing in between to form these smaller learning units. Architecture is conceived as a “social catalyst” that helps orchestrate students’ movement patterns within the learning units and facilitate chance encounters. Complemented by a series of strategically inserted public squares, communal spaces and outdoor gardens, this movement and interaction creates a buzz that makes the school a lively, activity-filled place.

Supporting the New Learning: Flexibility and Adaptability
In line with the pedagogical move towards more active, collaborative and personalised learning, the architects have provided a variety of spaces that cater to different learning modes and settings.

The learning communities are sub-divided into three thematic groups that can accommodate subject-based or cross-disciplinary learning. The classrooms and special teaching blocks are clustered around three learning gardens, each relating to the subject area of the surrounding spaces. The Sculpture Garden relates to the Arts and Performing Hub, the Eco Garden is directly in front of the Science Labs and the library opens out onto the Reading Garden. This arrangement explores the indoor-outdoor relationship between learning spaces, and reinforces the notion that learning is no longer confined within the four walls of the classroom, but extends beyond. In this case, the gardens serve as an extension of the indoor learning areas and provide students with experiential learning opportunities.

The various thematic gardens, together with a series of terraces and plazas are conceived as “free” spaces which allows the school to personalise to accommodate different types of informal, thematic, collaborative and group learning, as well as for social interaction. This illustrates the notion of the school as a blank canvas, where educators have the autonomy to personalise and transform their learning landscape.

In line with the idea of a blank canvas, the school becomes a “finished beginning”. All the elements need not be in place immediately. But the important thing is to anticipate future requirements so that the current design can adapt to current, mid-term and long-term needs. The classrooms for instance, are designed as pairs so as to facilitate future addition of partitions and conversion into larger combined classrooms. This will provide the school with the flexibility of having different group sizes and different arrangements according to their curriculum requirements.

Educator Narrative

The school is one of ten schools in the country tasked with the mission of nurturing Chinese cultural elite. The design is thus guided by our rich heritage and strong values, as well as our niche area in dance and the performing arts.

Efforts made by the school and the alumni members to identify features of the former school building provided the architect with the motifs, which were cleverly adapted in the new school. Most prominent are the octagonal shapes that run along the railings of all the corridors and the 8 octagonal pillars fronting the parade square. The columns represent values desired of good citizenry and individuals. Much thought was also given to the font used, the colour and octagonal border that result in a definite yet subtle message. Visually, this impacts students and staff daily as a constant reminder of our values. This installation of the school motto allows teachers to make reference to these characters in promoting national education as well as character education.

The landscaped courtyards within the heart of the learning areas have stimulated innovativeness among teachers and students in adopting the facilities for their activities. For example, the outdoor performance courtyards were used by uniformed group members for their exercises and instead of the usual rectangular or square formations students adopted circular formations to achieve better visual impact. These courtyards also provided natural stations for student leaders in their conduct of orientation camps for new students. The English Department has colonised one of them and has used it for their English Language and Literature lessons.

These courtyards are also common meeting places for students and teachers. Being furnished with garden furniture, they facilitate small group meetings, discussions, and informal interaction. One courtyard, which is adjacent to the science block and in front of the classroom block is being installed with an eco-garden which includes an experimental plot, an orchid hybridisation centre and an eco-pond. It will be developed into an educational resource and research centre on native plants and animals and provide great learning opportunities in the sciences, entrepreneurship and in community service.

The design in the campus continues to stimulate creative use of the facilities. The linkway between the Performing Arts Block and school hall has been deployed as a mall for events & exhibitions. The six-storey height also provides great views of the layout below and art students have stationed themselves at the hanging staircases to sketch different perspectives of the campus grounds. The six circular lift lobbies have been assigned to different departments/interest groups for them to put up exhibits. The roof top terrace also provides an excellent venue for gatherings and celebrations, specifically the Mid-Autumn Festival Celebration.

Teachers are particularly pleased with the entire common room being located in one level. This arrangement places all the teachers and the heads of department in close proximity as they share the staff lounge and washrooms located in their midst. This has resulted in more opportunities to meet up. With each department’s teachers being clustered, faculty sharing and discussions are facilitated.

Though the new campus has only been in operation for slightly more than a year, the facilities have uplifted the spirit of students. Designing the building with spaces for students to interact has contributed to this. The courtyards, the terraces, the spacious corridors and the various games courts provide ample spaces for interaction. Adding a fish pond, garden furniture and wireless networking has made the campus even more conducive for students and staff to relax and communicate in.

The marvel about the campus’ design is not the praises of many a visitor to the school but the potential it provides in the use of the facilities. The various designs have inspired and will continue to inspire creative ideas and innovative ways of using the spaces, some of which have yet to be discovered. The campus can thus be considered one big resource for the teaching and learning of creativity and innovation.