Concordia International School Shanghai (ciss) is an independent private day school for students Pre-K through Grade 12. following the master plan update and implementation of Phase iii - a new elementary school and arts center, the same architects moved onto the programming, planning and design of the final phase – a new high school building and renovation of the existing.

As the final leg of ciss’s phased master plan for expansion, the new high school facility is a physical manifestation of a student’s final threshold before moving onto college and post-graduate life. the maturity and freedom exhibited in the design of this building evokes the spirit with which the school hopes students will take with them as they move forward.

While we posted an article about the project when it was completed back in January, we are revisiting the project with more information and photographs with the series on the recipients of the 2010 Architecture for Education (CAE) Awards.

All images ⓒ ShuHe

The high school and elementary school design focuses on the experiential quality of architecture as an essential ingredient for meaningful learning. The design reinterprets the original character of the site, thereby imbuing the new experience with a rich and varied relationship to nature.
Through mountain views, sloping terrain, courtyards, bridges, and a tactile landscape of salvaged logs and boulders, nature enriches the learning environment. The site character is both the poetic inspiration for and an active participant in the daily experience of the users of the school.

The project is a residence for a couple, doubling up as an office. The site is situated within a residential neighborhood, where the cost of land are among the highest in Tokyo, with the cluttered urban fabric typical to residential areas in downtown Tokyo. It is hard to say if the quality of living environment deserves the price of land.

Another attractive residence from Seattle based Adams Mohler Ghillino Architects, Livability on a tight urban lot is enhanced through creative, efficient and flexible use of space. The shed-roofed upper floor of the main house rests above an open ground floor living space while a detached accessory structure serves as garage, office, playspace or guest quarters.

The full length of the site was designed as an alternating series of indoor and outdoor rooms with a continuous cedar clad wall visually connecting the spaces. The relationship between inside and out is blurred through the use of slide/fold doors that open the full width of the living space to the exterior at both ends. With the doors open, the living room becomes a porch to the street allowing the owners to interact with neighbors and passersby while the dining room extends to a private terrace and garden.

Architecture firm Peter Rose + Partners has completed the Kripalu Annex, the first step in the firm’s master plan to reshape the Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health. The project received the AIA National Housing Award in the category of Specialized Housing.

Tucked into 300 acres of dense forest in the Berkshire Mountains, Kripalu (kri-PAH-loo) is the largest and most established yoga retreat in North America. For over 30 years, Kripalu has been teaching skills for optimal living through experiential education for mind, body, and spirit, and this holistic approach was the starting point for the innovative plan that secured Peter Rose the Kripalu commission in 2004.

Photos: Matthew Snyder

According to Rose, “Kripalu’s housing needs are modest and straightforward, but the architecture of the Annex, like yoga itself, is full of subtlety and layers of complexity that gently improve the structure’s performance. Light, air, using minimal means to create a calm, healing environment—it’s all about fulfilling these almost intangible requirements.”