Nanhai Primary School / Chen Donghua Architects

Architects: Chen Donghua Architects
Area: 9600 m²
Year: 2024
Photographs: Siming Wu
Chief Architect: Chen Donghua
Design Team: Chen Donghua, He Jing, Gao Chong, Fang Kun, He Yuanxi, Zhuo Zishun / Huang Tong, Chen Lian, Chen Xinru, He Haifeng, Huang Huiting, Chen Boqian, Qiu Zining, Lin Jiating, Li Zikang (First Phase)
Site Architect: Chen Lian
Structural Strategy Consultant: Yang Bo
Construction Drawing Design: Shenzhen Huasen Architectural and Engineering Design Consulting Co., Ltd.
Cd Team: Wen Liang, Zhang Yan, Song Bufan (Architecture); Du Huanyi (Structure); Xiong Jian (Landscape); Huang Huanjun, Gan Minni (Interior); Lin Jin, Li Chun, Xian Keke, Zhang Ying (MEP); Long Caiyun, Zhang Xiaodong (Facade)
Shenzhen “100 Campus Renewal” General Coordinator: Zhou Hongmei
Shenzhen “100 Campus Renewal” Academic Coordinator: Zhu Jingxiang
Design Instructor: Zhu Jingxiang
Organization: Yang Lijun, Dong Shuzan, Gao Xuexiang, Wu Jieru, Wang Na, Yao Honggang, Li Bo (Nanshan District Public Works Department); Yang Jun, Liu Xiaoning, Xu Qiancai, Deng Jianfei, Liu Xing (Nanshan District Education Bureau); He Yingjie (Secretarial Team)
School Management: Gao Peng, Shang Hongde, Liu Weifan, Yan Qicong
Project Decision Making: Nanshan District Government
Project Management: Nanshan District Public Works
Support Department: Nanshan District Education Bureau, Nanshan Administration Bureau of Regulation and Self-regulation, Nanshan District Housing and Urban-Rural Development Bureau, Nanshan District Development and Reform Bureau Planning
Consultant: Shenzhen Municipal Planning and Natural Resources Bureau, School of Architecture, Chinese University of Hong Kong
Contractor: Shenzhen Jinzhong Decoration Engineering Co., Ltd.
Animal Illustration: Ring A Dingding
Documentary: Niuniu Film
Owner: Education Bureau of Shenzhen Nanshan District, Shenzhen Nanhai Primary School
Client: Public Works Bureau of Shenzhen Nanshan District
City: Shen Zhen
Country: China

Nanhai Primary School, renovated by Chen Donghua Architects in Shenzhen, optimizes underutilized spaces through a fast summer renovation. The project resolves spatial conflicts by introducing entrance corridors, parking sheds, a folding courtyard, and fence upgrades to improve functionality. To expand usable areas, rooftop multifunctional sheds, gardens, and reading sheds create semi-outdoor spaces suited to the subtropical climate, reducing air-conditioning reliance. Inspired by informal sheds in the Pearl River Delta, lightweight, cost-effective structures integrate as “shed species” across the campus. The rooftop multifunctional shed, using a steel frame system, follows the original structural grid, incorporating trusses and skylights for efficiency. Cantilevered triangular and rectangular parking sheds maximize space while resisting gravity loads, typhoons, and wind uplift. Bicycle and playground shading sheds, aligned with the campus fence, provide lightweight aluminum-covered shelter. The entrance wind-and-rain corridor, with folded roofs and diagonal columns, enhances circulation, while a single-column pavilion and folding-corridor courtyard create interactive student spaces. The rooftop wind-and-rain corridor links two teaching buildings, and a double-layer insulated roof shed improves thermal comfort. Additional elements, including a retractable roof, staircase canopies, and a mezzanine-enhanced library, refine space use, natural light, and circulation, enhancing the school’s efficiency and adaptability.

Nanhai primary school / chen donghua architects

Optimizing Space Within Time Constraints
The renovation project at Nanhai Primary School takes advantage of the summer vacation period to address underutilized spaces across the campus. The process demands speed, flexibility, and efficiency while ensuring all modifications remain practical and operational. The school’s internal orthogonal spatial structure contrasts with the irregular polygonal street interface, resulting in various “remaining spaces.” To reconnect and activate these areas, the project introduces an entrance corridor, parking sheds, a folding courtyard and pavilion, and fence renovations. These interventions not only fulfill functional requirements but also enhance the existing spatial framework. Furthermore, to meet the school’s pressing demand for additional usable space, various sheds and mezzanine levels have been incorporated at different heights, including a rooftop multifunctional shed, roof gardens, and reading sheds, expanding vertical spatial possibilities. These semi-outdoor structures, positioned both on the ground and rooftops, respond to the subtropical climate and daily usage needs, offering shaded areas that minimize reliance on air conditioning. Moreover, their design helps streamline the approval process for formal construction applications. Other improvements include corridor upgrades, toilet renovations, and facade enhancements, contributing to a comprehensive transformation of Nanhai Primary School across all scales and functional levels.

Distinct Yet Related Shed Forms
The design draws inspiration from everyday sheds in the Pearl River Delta, which embody a form of vernacular wisdom by naturally adapting to climatic conditions, space planning, material selection, lightweight construction, and cost efficiency. The renovation of Shenzhen Nanhai Primary School incorporates this informal, adaptable approach, integrating sheds into marginal spaces of varying forms, sizes, and elevations to enhance spatial dynamics. Moreover, given the brief design and construction period, the sheds maintain internal similarities to allow for a systematic and derivative design process. These shared characteristics include spatial organization, structural principles, material choices, and functional applications. Horizontally, vertically, and diagonally, the spatial layout reinterprets the school’s orthogonal grid while responding to the oblique angles of the surrounding urban interface. Similarly, in section, a cohesive skeletal system emerges, aligning spans, beams, heights, supports, drainage strategies, and structural constraints. These sheds are conceived as a family of “species,” where internal structural similarities lead to distinct yet interconnected spatial expressions, adapting to different environmental conditions while maintaining a unified design language.

Multi-Purpose Rooftop Shed
The renovation of the rooftop multifunctional shed aligns with the column-span of the existing structure, which primarily measures 6 meters, extending to 8 meters in certain areas. Consequently, the structural form of the shed adapts at the 8-meter span, where the truss transforms into a reverse beam while maintaining the same slope as the facade’s diagonal columns. When viewed from the interior, the bottom beam disappears, replaced by a skylight, introducing a subtle yet distinct spatial shift. This adjustment respects the original column arrangement while simultaneously disrupting its order, generating a natural yet intentional dislocation in form and space. The shed utilizes a three-dimensional steel frame system, featuring diagonal brace columns shaped as inverted triangular pyramids and truss beams. The structural design prioritizes axial force distribution, allowing for a relatively high slenderness ratio. The diagonal-brace columns have a maximum diameter of 108mm, while other components range from 50mm to 80mm. Given the constraints of limited reinforcement capacity in the original building and a restricted budget, the shed is designed to be exceptionally lightweight, appearing almost as if it floats above the treetops. Notably, the 108mm diagonal-brace columns match the diameter of the drainage pipes, integrating both elements into a seamless visual composition where they become nearly indistinguishable. This approach treats the rainwater pipes through “camouflage” rather than enclosure, reducing costs while maintaining a cohesive aesthetic. The renovation also includes a newly added corridor roof on the east side of the shed. A sequence of door frames is arranged in series, enhancing the sense of depth along the corridor while aligning with the direction and modular rhythm of the multifunctional shed.

Parking Shed with Triangular Form
The triangular parking shed is situated within two remaining parking lots that intersect the orthogonal relationship between the main building and the site boundary. The original parking shed had suffered damage, with dense pillars and persistent roof leakage obstructing its functionality. Furthermore, since the school’s main entrance is occasionally used for vehicle access, the angle between the road and the parking lot entrance created challenges for exiting and reversing. To address these issues, the new parking shed is designed as an extension of the main building, aligning with its orthogonal grid while maintaining an opening boundary parallel to the road to optimize space. The redesign eliminates columns along the 22-meter-wide road-facing entrance and the internal parking area, placing the only supporting columns along an inner L-shaped boundary. This allows the roof to adopt a cantilevered structure, giving it a strong floating appearance with spans ranging from 5.6 to 11 meters. The absence of internal columns creates a flexible, open parking area, allowing teachers to park without spatial restrictions, embracing an organic arrangement. Constructing a long-span semi-outdoor roof in the coastal region presents structural challenges, requiring resistance to gravity loads, typhoon-induced uplift, and varying extreme forces. The roof’s structural response is categorized into three conditions: under normal gravity loads, it is supported by an upturned front truss and rear columns, with rear cables helping to reduce truss dimensions and load; during extreme events, such as typhoons or falling trees, the cables enhance load-bearing capacity to ensure structural resilience; under upward wind forces, the roof is held by the upturned trusses and tensioned columns, while the rear cables become ineffective. This raises a key structural consideration for the “indeterminate” parking shed—should the upturned truss prioritize lightness or structural mass?

Parking Shed with Rectangular Form
The original parking shed was destroyed by a typhoon in the summer of 2023, necessitating the construction of a new structure. While the new shed follows the general layout of its predecessor, it introduces significant changes in structure and materials. Designed with a C-shaped floor plan, it eliminates columns from the front facade and interior space, similar to the triangular parking shed. The roof structure consists of beams suspended by upturned trusses and tensile rods, ensuring stability while maintaining an open, unobstructed space. Beneath the roof, a naturally hanging waterproof fabric creates a continuous translucent surface, allowing sunlight and tree shadows to filter through and cast dynamic silhouettes. Additionally, the soft fabric roof enables easy maintenance—fallen leaves accumulate on the surface but can be effortlessly removed with a gentle push or airflow, ensuring minimal upkeep.

Shed for Bicycle Parking
The design utilizes the existing fence pillars and the height difference between the campus interior and the adjacent street to create a one-way cantilevered bicycle shed. This structure is anchored to a section of the fence, with diagonal tensile rods providing external support. The layout follows a staggered arrangement along the linear fence, adjusting to the positions of the original trees. The roof is composed of a single layer of lightweight corrugated aluminum panels, ensuring durability while maintaining a minimal structural footprint. Furthermore, the previously thin wall interface is extended, integrating the shed into the surrounding space and enhancing its functional depth.

Shading Shed for Playground
The playground shading shed follows a design approach similar to the bicycle shed, where the thin wall interface is extended to increase the functional depth of the space. Its layout is staggered along the original border trees, creating shaded resting areas for the playground. Like the soft fabric roof of the rectangular parking shed, this shed features a continuous shading surface that filters dynamic tree shadows onto the space below. Furthermore, fallen leaves naturally slide off the roof with minimal effort from maintenance workers. While the curved surface and shifting patterns of light and shadow may appear to be aesthetic choices, they also serve practical functions. Positioned along the boundary of an external park, the shed’s fence maintains transparency and physical permeability. However, to prevent footballs from escaping the playground, the fence is designed to be taller, with adjusted column slenderness and structural modifications that differentiate it from other fence sections.

Entrance Weatherproof Corridor
The wind-and-rain corridor serves as a link between the teaching building and the entrance. Its columns follow a diagonally offset layout, integrating naturally with the folded roof and truss beams, subtly reflecting the corridor’s multi-directional turns. Structurally, the truss system is not the most efficient, as the oblique bars run parallel to the roof panel without achieving a steeper, more optimal angle. Furthermore, the design eliminates corner columns, introducing a cantilevered section that helps reduce the bending moment in the middle span. The roof features a double-layer aluminum plate system, where the top layer functions as a waterproof surface, while the suspended ceiling consists of a non-waterproof, densely assembled aluminum veneer. This design highlights the abstract triangular folded form, aligning with the double-layer roof structure seen in the triangular parking shed.

Courtyard with Folding Corridor and Single-Column Pavilion
The pavilion-corridor-courtyard space is located between the main building and the adjacent flower pond. The folding corridor adopts an orthogonal zigzag configuration, aligning with the internal orthogonal grid while responding to the external road. This layout results in several triangular flower ponds along the outer edges. The corridor and its folding walls also create an interactive, maze-like space for primary school students. Moreover, the area serves as a campus-culture exhibition space, a key requirement of the school. To accommodate this, the design incorporates multi-section folded surfaces along the walls, extending their length and providing ample exhibition space. The “folding” approach, therefore, operates on both spatial and functional levels. Structurally, the single-column pavilion responds to horizontal, vertical, and diagonal spatial relationships through a system of central support, four-way cantilevers, and a sloping roof. Tectonically, it follows the principles of other double-layer aluminum plate roofs by distinguishing upper-level waterproofing functions from lower-level geometric design requirements.

Rooftop Weather-Resistant Corridor
The corridor forms a direct connection between the roofs of the two teaching buildings in a straight line. Structurally, it features a single-door frame system that shares similarities with the corridor of the multifunctional shed but differs in its beam configuration. In this design, the beams function as both upper and lower chords, altering the structural composition while maintaining alignment with the overall architectural language.

Insulated Double-Layer Roof Shed
The newly added double-layer roof consists of three aluminum veneer layers. The top layer features a waterproof triangularly folded surface, while the middle layer is a flat, sloped waterproof membrane. The bottom cavity is designed for natural ventilation, helping to dissipate heat, and the lowest layer functions as a non-waterproof suspended ceiling, enhancing spatial definition and thermal performance.

Retractable Roof Shed
The retractable shed is designed for a flexible site, featuring a diagonal structure that provides both shade and waterproofing. It integrates with the beams of the original main building and a newly added rooftop frame, allowing for easy installation and adaptability based on usage needs.

Canopies for Two Staircases
The renovation includes two staircases and their canopies, with a design approach that minimizes the number of intersection points between the canopy and the original stair shear wall. This strategy reduces structural impact while maintaining functionality and integration with the existing building.

Library Transformation
The renovation of the library and recording classroom, which also functions as a flexible reading area, includes the addition of a mezzanine for expanded book storage. Due to the original structure’s net height of only 3.8 meters, the mezzanine was designed to be as thin as possible. By utilizing the library’s load-bearing capacity on the ground floor, the fixed bookcases beneath the mezzanine were converted into steel plate-lattice columns. This integration allows the mezzanine beam and floor to be constructed as a lattice plate with a thickness of just 50mm. Horizontally, the mezzanine floor is rotated 45 degrees, ensuring that only one corner connects to the original column near the window. This strategic placement minimizes obstruction of natural light from the west side while maintaining an orthogonal relationship between the columns and bookcases below and the original building layout. The design also introduces four full-height corner spaces, accommodating two staircases, a resting area, and a transitional space linking the library and recording classroom. A spatial dialogue emerges between the actively created corner space inside the window and the remaining triangular parking lot outside, forming an inversion of “negative and positive” space. Furthermore, the side and corner columns, welded from two I-beams, eliminate their corners to create eight-sided forms with alternating solid and void sections, allowing for simultaneous orthogonal and oblique structural orientations.