the exterior of an indoor-outdoor kindergarten school

Explore a Whimsical Kindergarten in Xiamen, China

2023 Best of Year Winner for Kids’ Zone

Learning feels like an adventure at this indoor-outdoor kindergarten in Xiamen, China. With porthole windows, igloolike nooks, and mini balconies, the mod, nearly 200,000-square-foot ECNU Xiping Bilingual School Kindergarten invites exploration from its pint-size attendees. There’s hardly a right angle in sight: Curving walls and arched entrances create a natural flow between rooms, and sunny halls circle a central courtyard. The PAL Design Group team considered the wide-eyed perspective of the end user, conceiving spaces that would have excited the designers as children, like an art studio that resembles an illuminated cave. A palette of whites and greens, both man­made and natural, keeps the mood fresh: Lush vegetation frames the entrance and plants hang from overhead fixtures. They’re reminders of growth in nature—and the budding students.


Best of Year Awards 2023

See Interior Design’s Best of Year Winners and Honorees

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an aerial view of the playground inside a primary school
greenery hangs from the ceiling in this student space at a kindergarten school
the exterior of an indoor-outdoor kindergarten school
PROJECT TEAM

joey ho; tommy kong; joslyn lam; daniel leung.

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