The Purple Elephant School

Purple Elephant is an international early-years school in the heart of Bangkok's central business district. Landscape Tectonix Limited was appointed in 2016 as landscape consultant for the new campus, whose architecture is by DWP (design worldwide partnership). The site held many existing mature trees and was surrounded by detached houses, so the design strategy was to retain every existing tree, maximise ground-level green space, provide the many functional rooms the school required, strengthen the school's sustainability ethos, and disguise all artificial elements as part of nature. To keep the ground plane free, functional spaces are lifted onto an elevated structure connected by raised walkways that weave a "forest" inside the school. The walkways create a sense of discovery and link at different levels to outdoor "nooks" that serve as open-air classrooms and multi-use rooms. The result is a large garden that strategically integrates planting, playgrounds and outdoor teaching, allowing children to play, imagine and learn while the original trees remain untouched. Project details are limited in the source material.