Yew Wah International School — Beijing Yizhuang

Yew Wah International School’s Beijing Yizhuang Campus reimagined an existing five-story academic building into a future-focused educational ecosystem organized around Learning Communities rather than conventional corridors. Education Design International provided the visioning and concept design — exploring how architecture and pedagogy could work together to support creativity, collaboration, critical thinking, and interdisciplinary learning within a bilingual, bicultural model. The work spans roughly 10,000 square meters and serves about 770 students from Early Childhood through Grade 13.

The concept strategically reorganized the entire five-story building into age-appropriate Learning Communities. Flexible learning studios, seminar rooms, project commons, café commons, science suites, makerspaces, teacher-collaboration hubs, performance environments, small-group rooms, and interdisciplinary learning zones were woven throughout to support multiple learning modalities and highly agile educational experiences.

A major focus was increasing functionality within the same footprint. By replacing rigid layouts with collaborative commons and adaptable learning suites, several floors gained 30–50% more effective learning space without expanding the building — alongside green roofs, ecological learning terraces, and strong indoor–outdoor connections that support student wellbeing and environmental awareness.