A floating school in Sacheon won the grand prize in Excellent Education Facility Contest

Aerial view of Yongnam High School in Sacheon, Gyeongnam. Courtesy of the Ministry of Education

A school logo floating in a shallow waterfront space, a library behind it, and a terraced building stacked in a geometric form appear to be floating on the water. The building, which at first glance looks like an art museum or a startup office, is the new home of Yongnam High School in Sacheon, South Gyeongsang Province, which opened 55 years ago.

It is completely different from a typical school with long corridors and standardized rectangular classrooms. The school was built with the concept of “Floating school.” Students, teachers, and parents participated in the space composition from the pre-planning stage, thinking that the restriction of space leads to restricted behavior and thinking. The classrooms can be freely combined or divided depending on the number of students or teaching methods by adding temporary walls, and the terraces, which were created while stacking the classrooms, provide students with spaces to rest.

The Ministry of Education announced on December 20 that Yongnam High School was selected as the grand prize winner in the 2023 Korea’s Excellent Education Facility Contest. The ministry has held the annual contest to recognize creative school facilities since 1998. This year's contest received 26 entries from educational facilities that were newly built, expanded, renovated, or restructured within the past two years, and six were finally selected.

The Hongseong Career Convergence Education Center in South Chungcheong Province, which received the grand prize, consists of five buildings that extend from the center as if their hands were put together to high-five. Deokgu Elementary School in Namwon, North Jeolla Province, which received the runner-up prize, looks like a collection of low ridges. Various spaces were created within the school, including a slide using the tilted parts of the building and lofts making use of high height above floor. Other winners include Sihwa Narae Elementary School in Siheung, Gyeonggi Province, Incheon University’s Second Library, and Cheonggu Middle School in Daegu.

※This article has undergone review by a professional translator after being translated by an AI translation tool.