Branksome Hall Asia at Jeju Global Education City

The design for Branksome Hall Asia campus encapsulated Branksome Hall’s educational philosophy and vision for an institution that was provocative, created harmony and contributed to both national and international educational thinking.

The campus is envisioned as ‘A Landscape for Learning’, an environment which reflects integration of buildings with landscape – a unique composition of distinctive (and nature-inspired) forms inter-connected by ‘fluid’ circulation pathways set in lush native landscape. The campus has a rich blend of building functions, seamlessly linking living-learning spaces to encourage encounters, connection and communication. It consists of intimate ‘instructional neighbourhoods’ (with multifunctionality of facility) in a green setting which encourages curiosity, nurtures creativity and celebrates the diversity of its students.

The campus flows. There are no jams for human traffic, light, air or sound. It provides space and flexibility so that the school is future proofed in terms of adapting spaces, technologies and learning methods. The flexibility of the masterplan enabled the construction to be phased. One Learning Pod, the Early Childhood centre and a Student Residence (Boarding House) were not constructed initially. These can be included when required. The ability to phase the construction provides the school with the opportunity to adapt and change the campus and adds another dimension to future proofing the school.

The challenge of achieving the aesthetics of sculpture and the functionality in a school that was to use new curriculum, new ways of learning and lead a nation to empower women were successfully met through the design’s sensitivity to and focus on relationships. The architect had the intuition and reflective practice to interact with students, teachers, leaders and the local community to get a sense of how to honor culture but to also augment future thinking. The facility design is smart, flexible and unpretentious. We believe the design reflects innovation in teaching and learning – enhancing education, supporting admissions and sets Branksome Hall Asia apart as Asia’s most advanced school.