Shenzhen faces enormous pressure on schooling capacity. In the next three years, it plans to add 210,000 new slots for enrolment. At the same time, innovation in education concepts and curriculum also puts new demands on space.

To address these issues PAO proposes the concept of a miniature city. Children are inspired to learn in a city-like environment, and are exposed to a variety of activities, inspiring a rich mix of social interactions and creativity. To this end, we employ three specific design strategies focusing on 'hybrid space', 'open space' and 'collective space'.