Shan Shui Shi Lin: A Cultural Centre Reimagining Chinese Landscape Painting

Park + Associates Pte Ltd Transforms Hwa Chong International School into a Living Artwork

The design of Shan Shui Shi Lin is a testament to the rich Chinese cultural heritage of Hwa Chong International School, the oldest Chinese institution in Singapore. The project is an exploration into translating a purely visual pleasure into a functional and experiential built form, using the compositional techniques of a Chinese landscape painting as the driving force behind the architecture. The buildings are arranged in a V-shaped configuration, framing a central garden on the opposite side of the swimming pools.

Materials used in the construction include hot dipped galvanised and spray painted mild steel fascia, composite timber screens, pebble wash floor, natural stone, including grey granite, timber look-alike homogenous tiles, timber parquet flooring, and carpet tiles. The project, which began in 2013 and was completed in July 2015, covers a site area of 11,539 sq.m. with a GFA of 12,482 sq.m.

The key challenge was working around the limits of the existing structure to fulfil the demanding programmatic requirements the brief called for, while at the same time, generating the maximum amount of open space for landscaping. The approach was to stack the spaces strategically and situate the garden central to the blocks, allowing both blocks to have visual accessibility to the garden.

The design team, consisting of Lim Koon Park, Christina Thean, Yin Wing Yong, Nuntawat Tasanasangsoon, and Joyce Samparada, preserved the main structural skeleton and reconfigured the internal walls to suit the brief and new programs. The existing grand stairs that serve as a transition between the new and old blocks were preserved but revitalised for an integrated aesthetic with the new.

The project was awarded Golden in A' Architecture, Building and Structure Design Award in 2017. This prestigious accolade is granted to marvelous, outstanding, and trendsetting creations that reflect the designer's prodigy and wisdom. They are venerated products and bright ideas that advance art, science, design, and technology, embodying extraordinary excellence and significantly impacting the world with their desirable characteristics.