Building Blueprints

Fostering Creativity and Collaboration

• By Aimee Eckmann, Steven Turckes
• 11/01/19

When administrators and teachers at the Shanghai American School envisioned a new library on their 29-acre Puxi campus, they saw an opportunity to create a highly interactive, technology-ready media center that would bring together middle and high school students to study and connect. The goal was to help students tell their stories, putting a premium on spaces for technology use, personal study, writing, reading and recording.

The two-story, multi-purpose Puxi Library is designed to foster creativity and collaboration across flexible study and meeting areas, preparing about 1,700 students for post-graduation success. The project was a collaboration between global architecture and design firm Perkins and Will and administrators and educators at the Shanghai American School.

Shanghai American School sought a hub with access to other campus areas, creating connectivity to the middle school art department and high school counseling center: two key resources in helping students express themselves and join with the larger school community. These connections are central to the design of the 37,500-square-foot library: to light and nature, between floors, and, of course, among students in a variety of communal settings. A repositioned new entrance re-orients the library to other buildings on campus, ensuring a more logical set of links. It provides a new north entrance to the building, where previously there was none, placing the entry closest to natural flow of foot traffic. The exterior windows were enlarged to improve daylight and look out to a landscaped courtyard. Students can relax or study on cushioned benches at the base of these windows. Nature was brought inside with a green wall of hanging plants abutting a water feature integrated into a bleacher-style staircase. These features enhance feelings of serenity, mitigating stress and improving wellness.

Flexibility, movement, even a sense of fun are encouraged throughout the library. Rich natural colors offer visual cues to separate breakout and meeting areas. Intentional breakout areas are placed throughout: these include individual study nooks adjacent to the windows, and a semi-circular workspace framed by a gently sloping wall that acoustically separates this quiet space from more public areas. The outside of the curve doubles as a space to showcase featured reading materials. Collaborative areas, as well as private study spaces, accommodate the needs of individuals and small groups.

A focal point of the reconfigured library is the main circulation desk and adjacent café, drawing students in and encouraging them to spend time in the space. An Apple-style “genius bar” on the second floor provides resources for technology instruction, sitting at the top of a dramatic sweeping staircase. The staircase leads to a second-floor landing, providing additional study nooks and intimate collaborative areas. The landing opens to a balcony overlooking the main floor, and provides access to a variety of flexible spaces — from an open area for teaching to rooms for the middle school art department and a recording studio complete with a green screen. These are both separated from the main space by moveable dividers.

The new library has been transformed from a traditional space lacking amenities and daylight into a bright, airy, energetic space where students and teachers can explore and grow together.

This article originally appeared in the November/December 2019 issue of Spaces4Learning.