Branksome Hall Asia is an International school for girls, located on Jeju Island, South Korea, with a sister school in Canada. Designed in collaboration with Samoo architects, Sun Architects and engineers, and MKPL architects, the school has been functional since 2012, serving its purpose of creating a home away from home.
The campus has a built-up area of 69,604 square meters, integrating the school and the residential facilities. The students experience an independent life, finding new families within the school premises. Branksome school is well known for its modern and innovative architectural design features and the facilities provided to the students and bagged several awards, namely, The Korean National Architecture and Construction Awards (2012) Superior Awards(2013) International School Award (2021).
Site Planning | Branksome Hall Asia
Jeju Island is one of the nine provinces in South Korea, well known as a UNESCO site, and for its rich culture and scenic beauty with various landscapes, oceans, dormant volcanoes, national parks, forests, etc. Branksome Hall Asia design has a strong influence on its site and site features. The landscape and the site planning are based on the physical form of the site, including the organic curves, embracing the culture and surroundings of Jeju. The design of the campus acknowledges the institution’s value and philosophy in education of creating ‘a landscape for learning’, and making a seamless shift between the indoors and outdoors.
The integration of both the campus structure and its landscape becomes a learning environment. The site spreads out slowly and peacefully, integrating several functional requirements, branching out like leaves, and paying homage to the culture of Canada, the location of the first Branksome campus. The campus design reflects teaching, learning, adapting, and inhabiting.
Design and Structure
The architect’s challenge was to achieve the function and the aesthetics of an international school’s new teaching methods and curriculum for students from various backgrounds. The variation in user groups was evaluated by understanding the nature of teachers, students, local community and bringing an experience of the regional culture into the design.
The campus has various structural elements from Korea, Oreum (Jeju’s defunct volcano), olle(small trails leading to each built form), and Canada’s trait of timber is used as one of the major building materials. These elements provide an identity for this award-winning campus.
The unique circulation in the campus is ‘fluid-like‘, reflecting the natural topography of the site, making it easier for the students to move around freely, which envisions the free creativity and distinctive nature of each individual.
The built structure is outspread and spacious, slowly blending into the landscape of lush green, appreciating the native landscape. This movement within the campus avoids overcrowding and helps in the free flow of light, sound, and air, leaving a fresh user experience. The design is flexible, providing a change in its environment, and training the user to adapt to that change. The campus forms a sculpture in the existing environment.
Design Features | Branksome Hall Asia
The school labs have flexible open spaces in courtyards and open terrace gardens providing fresh air into the building. Sustainable design elements in this school include a rainwater harvesting system installed in the school lobby, where the water is recycled, encouraging the students to an eco-friendly society.
The central lobby with the main entrance has a 3-story high indoor garden, welcoming visitors. The roof is glass-paneled to allow light into the building. The exterior facade is done with aluminum louvers, controlling the light and heat into the building. The dissimilarity in the façade creates varying elevations for each block on the site.
Facilities
The campus consists of four stories and two basement floors, catering to students of various age groups from junior school, middle school, and high school. Each of these student groups is provided with a learning block, where teachers are free to experiment with various teaching methods according to their grades.
Interactive teaching pods were introduced where teachers could provide training in different fields and conduct experiments with fully equipped design labs, science labs, studios, printing,3D modeling and woodshop, robotics, and more.
STEM programs (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics), are conducted to appreciate intellectual, young minds. Sports facilities include swimming pools, Olympic size ice rinks, three maker spaces, a gymnasium, indoor play courts, a golf academy, dance studios, yoga studios, wellness, and a fitness center. Libraries, Food courts, school shops, and performing arts centers are some of the other facilities provided to the students, making for a memorable experience. The visual art center has features like television rooms, black box theaters, drama studios, practice rooms, and recording studios.
The boarding houses provide communal lounges and direct access to facilities like laundry, sports and leisure facilities, dining hall, wellness, and fitness center. For assistance, supervised study hall with academic support from teacher dons five nights every week and 24/7 medical center. Students are transported back and forth by bus arranged, considering their safety from boarding houses to Branksome Hall Asia. High security is made sure with smart systems with personalized ID cards and access cards.
Empower girls into Powerful Leaders | Branksome Hall Asia
The architecture of Branksome Hall Asia is the most logical, crisp interpretation of the philosophy and vision. The smooth transition of spaces and housing many functions definitely helps create a positive impact on the students.
Branksome Hall Asia has a vision of bringing up young girls with proactive lifestyles, capable of being leaders and open-minded, ambitious women. The institution believes that girls can do anything, training them to thrive in the modern world. Branksome has a mission to challenge and inspire girls to love learning to shape a better world. They help girls to achieve their dreams and mold them into talented individuals.
Reference and Citations:
Online sources:
Samoo.com. (2022). Branksome hall Asia, Jeju. [online] Available at: https://www.samoo.com/home/works/view.do?cntntsSn=12272 [Accessed 14 Oct. 2022].
web.archive.org. (2015). Branksome Hall | Article. [online] Available at: https://web.archive.org/web/20150701211526/http://www.branksome.on.ca/News/Pages/Article.aspx?ArticleID=225 [Accessed 14 Oct. 2022].
Architizer. (2015). Branksome Hall Asia – Jeju Island. [online] Available at: https://architizer.com/projects/branksome-hall-asia-jeju-island/ [Accessed 14 Oct. 2022].
Boarding School Review. (n.d.). Branksome Hall Asia (2022-23 Profile) – Jeju-do, South Korea. [online] Available at: https://www.boardingschoolreview.com/branksome-hall-asia-profile [Accessed 14 Oct. 2022].
www.branksome.asia. (n.d.). Branksome Hall Asia – Home. [online] Available at: https://www.branksome.asia/ [Accessed 14 Oct. 2022].
Team, E. (2020). Branksome Hall Asia- Where Girls Become Powerful Women. [online] K12 Digest. Available at: https://www.k12digest.com/branksome-hall-asia-where-girls-become-powerful-women/ [Accessed 14 Oct. 2022].
ArchDaily. (2013). Branksome Hall Asia Jeju Global Education City / Samoo Architects & Engineers + MKPL Architects. [online] Available at: https://www.archdaily.com/356825/branksome-hall-asia-jeju-global-education-city-samoo-architects-and-engineers [Accessed 14 Oct. 2022].
mkpl.sg. (n.d.). BHA Campus Architecture and Design. [online] Available at: https://mkpl.sg/bha-campus-jeju-island/ [Accessed 14 Oct. 2022].
a4le.org.au. (n.d.). Branksome Hall Asia at Jeju Global Education City – Learning Environments Australasia: Enhancing the Educational Experience. [online] Available at: https://a4le.org.au/awards/2014-awards/2014-category-1-new-construction-entire-new-school/branksome-hall-asia-at-jeju-global-education-city [Accessed 14 Oct. 2022].
https://carneysandoe-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/assets/Branksome-Hall-Principal-Final-8.30.pdf
www.jejuweekly.com. (n.d.). BHA breaks ground with Canadian exchange program – JEJU WEEKLY. [online] Available at: http://www.jejuweekly.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=3083 [Accessed 14 Oct. 2022].
