Inside Early Learning Village, Singapore

ELV delivers a multicultural, flexible environment with capacity for 2,100 children from nursery to kindergarten age, as well as 400 support staff

Posted by Julian Owen | April 20, 2018 | International

• #early-learning-village
• #singapore
• #cognita
• #bogle-architects
• #stamford-american-international-school
• #stamford-american-international-school

The Early Learning Village is being hailed as “an extraordinary milestone in the delivery of international pre-school education”. The school was designed by Bogle Architects for the global schools operator Cognita, accommodating two of its schools in Singapore: The Stamford American International School and The Stamford American International School.

The 54,000 sqm building is intended “to enhance children’s learning experience by offering a spectrum of lively learning environments filled with colour and sunlight”.

While the teachers enjoy an adult’s perspective of the spaces, the architects have created a dual environment by including child-sized doors, work benches with steps for children of different heights, and signage at children’s eye-level and on the floors.

Cognita's brief stipulated that the project “should be a model for future schools of this nature, providing facilities rarely seen in pre-school buildings: external discovery play zones, a swimming pool, a flexible multi-purpose hall, and specialist subject classes for art, music and dance.

“The key challenges were to ensure that the significant volume was not intimidating for small children, to clarify circulation given the scale of the school and to design a building that was essentially playful and fun as well as flexible enough to accommodate changing market conditions.”