BIBA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL RENOVATION
YEW WAH INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL
OF BEIJING
The large international education campus developed by BIBS Life Education Group in the Yizhuang Development Zone of Beijing comprises two international schools: Yew Chung and Yew Wah. This project includes the interior design of three buildings: Yew Wah Academic Building, Yew Chung Sports Center, and Yew Wah Sports Center. When our design team became involved, the building structures had already been completed; however, the school’s operations team felt that the existing interior spaces did not meet the needs of “21st-century learning” and therefore sought a systematic reconfiguration and adjustment of the interior layouts.
LOCATION Beijing, China
AREA 21600 m²
STATUS Completed
CLIENT Yew Chung Education Culture Development Co., Ltd
YEAR 2017
PROGRAMS Education, Theater, Interior Design
Creating a home-like learning environment for children begins with a sense of safety and belonging. The design strategy was to use natural, uplifting color palettes and soft, welcoming materials, while avoiding spaces of super scale that could feel oppressive. Full-height glass partitions are introduced between classrooms and commons, combined with sliding doors, folding doors, and elevated doors to allow flexible space division. This approach maintains visual transparency and spatial continuity while strongly supporting diverse modes of learning. When fully opened, the traditional “corridor” is dissolved, and every corner becomes a place for learning and interaction.
Classrooms for different subjects are mixed and interconnected, forming a learning environment that encourages interdisciplinary integration. The ground floor concentrates spaces such as art studios, galleries, dance rooms, a multi-purpose hall, and a recording studio, while display opportunities are maximized through flexible systems including ceiling-mounted hanging rails, wall-mounted picture rails, writable finishes, and pin-up felt panels to support a wide range of teaching and exhibition needs.
The multi-purpose theater was converted from an indoor gymnasium in the original core and shell design. With 200 seats, the theater features subtly curved walls and ceilings that create a Broadway-inspired atmosphere. Motorized retractable seating provides a high degree of flexibility, allowing the space to quickly transform to accommodate gatherings and performances of varying scales.
The interior design of the Yew Chung Sports Center integrates three color schemes: “Fresh Air” for public spaces, “Ocean Blue” for the swimming hall, and “Urban Green” for the indoor basketball courts. The design first reconnects the previously separated main and secondary lobbies to form a continuous and layered public space with a variety of seating areas and furnishings. The swimming hall includes eight lanes and a baby pool, while the sports hall contains two standard courts and is equipped with dedicated dividing curtains, allowing four PE classes simultaneously.
The Yew Wah Sports Center includes a student cafeteria on the ground floor and a multi-purpose basketball hall on the second floor. The cafeteria uses warm tones such as orange and maroon combined with wood finishes to stimulate appetite, while the basketball hall adopts a color palette known as “Honest Orange.” The orange and blue of the Yew Wah school emblem appear on the interior walls in the form of perforated acoustic panels.
This project was designed by IAP in collaboration with Feilding Nair International, a design consulting firm in educational facilities planning.
CHIEF DESIGNER
Xiaoyi Ma
DESIGN TEAM
Pengfei Chen, Chaoyi Meng, Yue Zhao, Yue Liu, Yanting Zhu, Xuejiao Zhou