Dushan Town is located at the so called "South Gate of Guizhou"  at the border with Guangxi province. The main residents in this area belong to Buyi, Miao and Shui ethnic minorities.  The complex of buildings grows on the top of a long foundation stripe, 527m long and 330m wide. The north area is pretty mount ainous and mainly residential, on the west there is the highway and both east and south are arterial roads. 。In the accumulation and precipitation of the long history, Dushan has its own unique features with the local college - Yingshan culture。

Architects based the design of this school complex in order to create a series of courtyards with different levels of privacy, where "listen to the sound of wind and to the sound of reading" according to an old traditional Chinese proverb. The simple severe 'academic' architectural style always meets these open courtyards, some more wide and open, where to practise group sports, others more quite  where to study or relax, in the dormitory area. These courtyards play with the light creating different environments and iconic shadows. Open terraces and boardwalks over the courtyards create interesting connections and different spaces for students' differents needs.

Materials are clear and simple, only cement mortar and white painting on outer walls, where shadows get strong and sharp. Considering local construction workers lack of skills and a very limited selection of local materials, architects opted for a material selection which could ensure good quality and easy to control results.  

The functional layout of school consists of 4 functional courtyards with different sizes。

A. program: classroom + sports facilities and playground

layout: four different sizes of courtyards (where outer walls create a strong visual and acoustic barrier against the highway)

B. program: administration offices + library

layout: high and effective office area + quiet reading space

C. program: dormitory + restaurant

layout: different functions are arranged on different levels. The dining area is located in the lower floors, connected to multiple cortyards, while

dormitory are in the upper floors.

D. program: dormitory

layout: quiet and elegant living environment

The architect: West-line Studio

Location: Baiquan Town，Dushan，Guizhou Province - China

Design: Haobo Wei, Jingsong Xie

Team: Yuanping Li, Xiaoqiang Yang, Dingping Fu, Hongbo Shi, Minghua Ou, Zhipeng Zhu, Hongsen Kang

Graphic：Mratina Muratori

West-line studio, 9th floor of Jiankan Building, South Bihai road, Guanshanhu district, Guiyang city, Guizhou province,China.Contact number: 0851-84104501 trans 601。The copyright of all materials in this website is owned by West-line studio, and it should not be copied or reprinted without any permission.