panyaden school by 24H architecture, thailand

‘panyaden school’ by 24h architecture, chiang mai, thailandimage © ally taylor

the ‘panyaden school‘ located in the lush forests of chiang mai in northern thailand, educates its multicultural students through a fusion of buddhist principles and ecological sensitivity with a bilingual curriculum that not only teaches the classic subjects, but also touches on social and humanistic topics to help teach children how to live well-rounded happy lives. designed by dutch practice 24H architecture, the campus seems to be built under a group of enormous fallen leaves, made of natural locally sourced materials and labor that create an all around sustainable and comfortable low-impact facility. plentifully available bamboo rods of varying sizes are used for columns and make up the entire roof structure with a playful interweaving of structurally sound geometries anchored into large rock foundations in the ground. walls of compressed earth dotted with bottles delineate classrooms filled with natural light, with the large canopies hovering over all the rooms for a shaded, ventilated and comfortable learning environment. the organic shapes and material palette bring the children and teachers closer to nature in a tranquil atmosphere surrounded by rice fields. the premises is equipped to collect and recycle waste water, grow it’s own crop, and produce bio-gas.

entrance structureimage courtesy panyaden school

the school in chiang mai received a grand award in the overall category, and a gold award for sustainable at the 2012 design for asia awards during the business of design week in hong kong.

other DFA grand award winners include interdisciplinary creative works on asa’s cultural creativity exhibition by FREEiMAGE DESIGN; raas jodhpur by lotus praxis initiative (additional coverage here); GXR camera by ricoh company ltd.; pacific place by heatherwick studio; daikanyama T-site by klein dytham architecture; palace hotel tokyo chapel by nomura co. ltd;

with DFA special award (technology, culture and sustainability) given to gardens by the bay by grant associates (additional coverage here); DFA special award for culture given to asia society hong kong centre – revitalization of the former explosives magazine by todd williams billie tsien architects; and DFA special award for sustainability given to soil cave house-transformation design for the farmers of west china by the environmental design association of china artists association.

entrance structureimage courtesy panyaden school