China

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Shanshu Elementary School
Baipan village, Pingbian (Yunnan)
22°30' N 103° 50' E
Baipan is situated at an altitude of 1613 meters. The climate has a warm summer and a cool winter. The monsoon is from the end of May to September.
The school is designed in the traditional Miau style with comfort improvements.
The existing location is very small. For that reason we cut out part of the slope. The outcoming ground can be used on the north side of the playground to enlarge the playground. In this way it is possible to build the school in the same location as the existing school. In order to have space for the requested rooms/facilites it was necessary to build on 3 floors.
The brief for the school asked for 6 classrooms, AV room, library, dinning, kitchen and dormitories for teachers and students. About 900 square meters are required to provide the requested facilities. With the additional space like constructions, walls, stairs and traffic space the school will be larger.

 Existing situation

Proposed site lay-out
Existing school
Building site


Cross section of the school and dormitories 


 3 rd floor with teachers dormitories

 roof and 2nd floor with students dormitories

1st floor with classrooms, courtyard and covered dining space 

Ground floor with classrooms connected to the playground 
Plan layout - The school is split in 2 buildings standing on the slope of the hill. The front building with the classrooms in 2 layers is facing the open playground and will catch all available sun in the morning. The second building will have all functional spaces. AV room and library, office, kitchen and toilets. Kitchen, toilets and bathrooms are in one corner of the building and close to the biogas installation. This makes the distance for piping very short and will keep installation cost low as well. The first floor of the second building has the dormitories and bathrooms for the students and the teachers dormitory is on top.
Between the two buildings is a covered outdoor space for dining and for playing or studying together. It is also usefull for circulation in the rain season.

Comfort:

During the year heating and ventilation is required. In November to February the average temperature is around 12° C and the average maximum temperature is around 18° C. Minimum night temperature can be 0° C.
In the monsoon period the average temperature will be around 21° C.
Main wind direction is northwest.


Bioclimatic approach:

Heating - Classrooms have large windows facing east. The morning sun will heat up the building. Important is to keep the heat in the building. For that reason the building needs about 80 mm of thermal insulation. Concrete floors and internal waals will accumulate the heat during the day.
The dormitories for teachers and students are on the top floors. They have windows on the west and will catch some afternoon sun that will warm the rooms in winter.
The veranda's are used for traffic space.
A future improvement can be to close the veranda's with glass and to gain more heat in winter. The glass has to be opened in summer for ventilation.
Ventilation - The windows have to be well constructed without any draught to prevent heat loss. Top windows in the facade on both sides of the building (close to the ceiling) will allow natural venilation through the classroom. This will be needed for the teachers and children to have enough oxygen and to keep their head cool.
Shading - The roofs have large overhangs that shade the windows of the teachers dormitory in summer.
Cooling - There is no need for cooling.
Hot water - An integrated solar hot water system will be used on the roof.
Cooking - This will be done with natural gas. Because of the capacity at least 4 installations are needed. Also the amount of shit (from the pigs) has to be sufficient. The school will need more pigs or to agree to cooperate with the neighbours to use the shit of their pigs.
Daylight - Every classroom has windows for daylight on both sides.
Artificial light - Energy-efficient lights that adjust to the daylight will be the most energy efficient.
Energy supply - The electricity from the grid will be used.


Structure and materials:

Main construction of the buildings will be concrete floors and concrete columns and walls. The outside concrete walls will be painted in the same color as the yellow clay that is used originally. The outside walls will be insulated on the inside with 50 mm of mineral wool and covered with bamboo plywood on the inside. The internal walls will be painted and not covered or insulated (these walls are needed for the thermal mass of the building) The southeast walls will have wooden window frames with single glass.
The floors are insulated with 50 mm of thermal insulation. Floors will be polished and painted.
The roof will be plywood (bamboo) with 50 mm of mineral wool insulation and an outside cover with clay rooftiles or bamboo sheeting.

Our client is: Pingbian reserve, WWF China and INBAR Beijing