New British School In Tokyo To Sprout Colorful Playgrounds In Between Classrooms
Heatherwick Studio is about to open its doors to its first-ever school building, taking shape in Tokyo’s Azabudai Hills. The new structure will be the largest international school in the city, with a capacity to host up to 800 students.
The architecture firm is known for its fluid designs, intersecting nature, and industrial design. The British School in Tokyo is no different, as it creates a flow between classroom spaces and outdoor gardens and playgrounds that span the eight floors of the building. The school is also cast in warm-hued tiles from the outside, inspired by the local Azabudai Post Office—one of the few surviving pre-war structures in Tokyo.
The building is punctuated by cascading terraces that lend themselves as a host to nature spaces and independent group studying.
Outside classes, the school will play home to music and art studios, a Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics center, sports pitches and hall, an indoor swimming pool, and two libraries.
Overall, the space offers students and teachers a more fluid and open approach to education and allows them to do so while steeped in nature.
Classes will be in session in August 2023.
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[via Dezeen and Global Design News, images via Heatherwick Studio]
