Trace Architecture Office designed zigzagging ramps running round Huandou School in Haikou, China, to encourage interaction and play between students outside the classroom.
Monolithic white pillars surround the internal courtyard of the school, which sits within a dense residential area.

Trace Architecture Office (TAO)  said the design is intended "create a nurturing environment that celebrates creativity and interaction rather than examination-oriented learning cultures."
A playground sits at the centre of the school along with a running track, with a teaching block and a dormitory facing each other across the open space.

In order to maximise this outdoor area, the buildings are raised on pilotis to allow the playground to become part of the ground floor level of Huandou School. An inner courtyard sits at second floor level, providing another communal space sheltered from the sun and allowing natural ventilation to flow into the centre of the school.

Access to the courtyard is via a grand staircase that runs almost the entire length of the building.
Huandou School's accommodation occupies a long, thin slab block to the north, and the teaching block to the south has an angular plan surrounding the courtyard at its centre.

Classrooms are arranged along both sides of the teaching block, with those on the opposite side of the building area arranged as independent volumes, separated by wide circulation areas.
This circulations blends into the ramps and staircase...