Explore a Whimsical Kindergarten in Xiamen, China

2023 Best of Year Winner for Kids’ Zone

Learning feels like an adventure at this indoor-outdoor kindergarten in Xiamen, China. With porthole windows, igloolike nooks, and mini balconies, the mod, nearly 200,000-square-foot ECNU Xiping Bilingual School Kindergarten invites exploration from its pint-size attendees. There’s hardly a right angle in sight: Curving walls and arched entrances create a natural flow between rooms, and sunny halls circle a central courtyard. The PAL Design Group team considered the wide-eyed perspective of the end user, conceiving spaces that would have excited the designers as children, like an art studio that resembles an illuminated cave. A palette of whites and greens, both man­made and natural, keeps the mood fresh: Lush vegetation frames the entrance and plants hang from overhead fixtures. They’re reminders of growth in nature—and the budding students.

---

---

joey ho; tommy kong; joslyn lam; daniel leung.