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Muping Village School is a three-classroom primary school for a remote village with no road access, providing space for 90 or more students who otherwise have to walk several hours to the nearest school.
The composition of the school is immersed in the natural surroundings, being at the foot of a local mountain. The L-shape building defines a courtyard with the existing terraced fields, providing a shaded playground on its west side. Minimal site formation was done to reduce disruption of the environment.
Where possible, we use local materials and local techniques in the construction, but also add new ideas when appropriate. For example, the external walls are finished with white-stone pebbledash, which makes the school harmonious with other buildings in the village, as well as providing superior weather proofing to the more commonly used blank walls. Interior corridors that are sheltered from rain are left with a raw finish to provide contrast to the exterior. The wooden seats along the corridors are made by craftsmen from the village using local wood, revitalizing techniques that would otherwise be lost to new materials such as concrete and aluminium.
