Kongju Special School

1. Site Connect to Nature: Buildings on the plateau site form a central garden at the heart of this school-like-a-village. With ginkgo trees, pools, and landscaping like ancient Korean gardens, this will be a place of calm inspiration.

2. Life/Body/Mind/Art: School as village in four distinct buildings.

•      Life: Dorm rooms with natural ventilation and views are formed around the central garden in a serpentine curve. Placing the children’s rooms over a ground level of classrooms allows the analogy of traditional “living above the shop” village character.
•      Body: Dedicated to health and holistic education with the large gymnasium and multi-purpose athletic facilities, while forming a pubic gateway at the south to connect the campus and community.
•      Mind: Situated at the center of the campus with library and clock tower, this building has the main labs and offices of the school to prioritize teaching and learning.
•      Art: With the theater, a café, and arts classrooms at the main entry court emphasizing the teaching potential of the arts for autistic children.

3. Individuation: A proven positive for autistic children, a sense of individuation is expressed in unique colors in each of the residences. A variety of living spaces also contributes individual character. Most dorm rooms have direct cross ventilation. Classrooms are directly accessible from the ground level.

4. Ecological Vision: CLT wood construction, exposed at interiors for a feeling of warmth is insulated on the exterior with skin of “poraver”, a new recycled stucco-like material made of waste glass beads. Rainwater collection and recycling connect to the watershed of the mountain landscape. Geothermal heating and cooling together with state of the art solar shingle roofs bring the project to a near net zero ecological example. The vertical colored blades at the dorm rooms are also effective for the cut-off heat gain in the East and West facing façade.

5. Orientation, Accessibility and Detail: Clear orientation for the special needs students is created through circulation on the mountain side in continuous movement while living and classroom spaces open to the garden side. Accessibility is paramount with a series of spaces for collective engagement and individual reflection in the main garden giving a strong sense of location and direction in a space that is helping Autistic student’s sensory system development. Throughout the complex, aspects such as digital clock towers which shows the seasonal change with time will add to the special qualities of this village.