BIBA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL RENOVATION
VLINK FLAGSHIP CAMPUS
VLink is conceived as a community living room for all ages. It champions the awakening of individual talents and views education as a natural process of transformation. Like the caterpillar in The Very Hungry Caterpillar, which feeds for seven days before becoming a butterfly, growth is understood as a continual process of nourishment.
LOCATION Beijing, China
AREA 400 m²
CLIENT Beijing Wuhe Vanke Real Estate Development Co., Ltd.
STATUS Completed
YEAR 2016
PROGRAMS Education, Interior, Signage Design
To accommodate large gatherings, small-group activities, and individual moments within less than 400 square meters across two floors, the design opens up the ground level as much as possible while embedding a series of more intimate spaces around its perimeter. The ground-floor hall, combined with an open kitchen, supports reception, gallery display, interactive classes, cooking workshops, and parent waiting areas, enabling the compact space to host events for up to a hundred people. The second floor houses four rooms for workshops, humanities, art, and dance, which can be combined through movable partitions into a larger room or used as a small theater. The contrast and integration of large- and small-scale spaces foster an atmosphere of shared growth across age groups.
Within this highly condensed environment, the design aims to make opportunities for growth present everywhere. The background wall of the main hall draws inspiration from the forest cabin imagery in the picture book Round Trip. Using the space beneath the staircase, children’s huts of varying scales are embedded for reading, play, work, and rest. These huts become part of the visual landscape of the hall, while the children inside appear as living “exhibits” in the eyes of parents. The entrance floor echoes this motif with a black-and-white inverted pattern that reveals different images when entering and exiting.
The main staircase is the project’s defining feature. Viewed from below, it appears blue, like a flowing stream; from above, it turns golden, evoking the warmth of sunset and marking an emotional shift from exploration to return. From the stair landings, one can see children resting on the second floor through overhead safety netting, and children can slide back down to the ground-floor hall via a small slide.
At VLink, distinctions between primary and secondary spaces are intentionally blurred, as are those between destinations and circulation. Play, reading, exhibition, and expression can happen anywhere. Materials emphasize environmental responsibility, including natural rubber and food-grade flooring, while walls support writing, projection, and pin-up use. Together, natural materials, interactive features, and playful forms create a shared home for growth that welcomes all ages.
CHIEF DESIGNER
Xiaoyi Ma
DESIGN TEAM