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NAN建筑事务所

Based in Shanghai, NAN Architects produces creative offices, R&D facilities, and exhibition pavilions marked by expressive structural geometries, combining branching piers, pinched facades, and rotated volumes with stark transitions between perforated brick and lightweight glass gables. This work serves as a strong reference when detailing sculptural external circulation, configuring expressively tapered structural supports, or resolving tectonic shifts between solid masonry and soaring glazed enclosures.

Exterior view of a multi-volume kindergarten building with perforated terracotta brick screens and angled roof profiles by NAN建筑事务所.

重庆金海湾幼儿园_调整大小

上海

An exterior precedent for educational architecture using perforated terracotta brick screens and dynamic stepped volumes to balance privacy, natural ventilation, and playful indoor-outdoor terraces.

What we like about this project
The transition from solid perforated brick to soaring triangular glass gables creates a striking contrast between heavy texture and lightweight transparency.

Materials

  • terracotta-brick
  • glass
  • steel
  • concrete

Visual identifiers

  • perforated-brick
  • terracotta-screen
  • angled-roof
  • cantilevered-terrace
  • curtain-wall

Style tags

  • contemporary
  • playful
  • contextual
  • textured

Visual tags

  • educational
  • perforated-screen
  • daylight-control
  • outdoor-learning
  • massing
  • campus
Geometry
Complex articulated volumes step and intersect, featuring angled gable roofs, cantilevered terraces, and glazed curtain wall inserts framed in white.
Facade system
Perforated terracotta brick cavity screen wall combined with glazed curtain walls and glass balustrades.
Structural guess
Reinforced concrete frame with non-loadbearing terracotta screen walls.
Spatial scale
Child-scale and human-scaled courtyards and terraces integrated within a multi-story educational volume.
Lighting
Bright direct daylight casting crisp shadows across the textured brick surfaces and accentuating the deep geometric profiles.
Atmosphere
Vibrant, porous, and warm, with filtered light passing through patterned brickwork into educational spaces.
Environmental context
Low-rise institutional campus setting with lush green planting at ground level and open sky background.
Spatial experience
The layered massing creates a rhythmic progression of indoor-outdoor transitions between landscaped courtyards, terraces, and perforated brick screens.
Composition rhythm
Dynamic diagonal rooflines contrasted against the rigid horizontal and vertical grid of the brick screen perforations.
Style reading
Contemporary playful institutional architecture
Program
Kindergarten or educational facility
Perspective
Exterior Facade
Discipline
architecture
Materials
terracotta-brick, glass, steel, concrete
Visual identifiers
perforated-brick, terracotta-screen, angled-roof, cantilevered-terrace, curtain-wall
Style tags
contemporary, playful, contextual, textured
Visual tags
educational, perforated-screen, daylight-control, outdoor-learning, massing, campus
Geometry
Complex articulated volumes step and intersect, featuring angled gable roofs, cantilevered terraces, and glazed curtain wall inserts framed in white.
Facade system
Perforated terracotta brick cavity screen wall combined with glazed curtain walls and glass balustrades.
Structural guess
Reinforced concrete frame with non-loadbearing terracotta screen walls.
Spatial scale
Child-scale and human-scaled courtyards and terraces integrated within a multi-story educational volume.
Lighting
Bright direct daylight casting crisp shadows across the textured brick surfaces and accentuating the deep geometric profiles.
Atmosphere
Vibrant, porous, and warm, with filtered light passing through patterned brickwork into educational spaces.
Environmental context
Low-rise institutional campus setting with lush green planting at ground level and open sky background.
Spatial experience
The layered massing creates a rhythmic progression of indoor-outdoor transitions between landscaped courtyards, terraces, and perforated brick screens.
Composition rhythm
Dynamic diagonal rooflines contrasted against the rigid horizontal and vertical grid of the brick screen perforations.
Style reading
Contemporary playful institutional architecture
Program
Kindergarten or educational facility
Perspective
Exterior Facade
Discipline
architecture

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  • © 2026 HappyCluster

Directories

  • Firms
  • Patterns

AI Native Apps

  • AI Mode Search
  • SoftMarket
  • 2nd Brain

About HappyCluster

  • About
  • How it works
  • Contact

Connect

  • Waitlist
  • X
  • GitHub

Legal

  • Privacy
  • Terms

HappyCluster

© 2026

Exterior view of a multi-volume kindergarten building with perforated terracotta brick screens and angled roof profiles by NAN建筑事务所.

重庆金海湾幼儿园_调整大小

上海

An exterior precedent for educational architecture using perforated terracotta brick screens and dynamic stepped volumes to balance privacy, natural ventilation, and playful indoor-outdoor terraces.

What we like about this project
The transition from solid perforated brick to soaring triangular glass gables creates a striking contrast between heavy texture and lightweight transparency.

Materials

  • terracotta-brick
  • glass
  • steel
  • concrete

Visual identifiers

  • perforated-brick
  • terracotta-screen
  • angled-roof
  • cantilevered-terrace
  • curtain-wall

Style tags

  • contemporary
  • playful
  • contextual
  • textured

Visual tags

  • educational
  • perforated-screen
  • daylight-control
  • outdoor-learning
  • massing
  • campus
Geometry
Complex articulated volumes step and intersect, featuring angled gable roofs, cantilevered terraces, and glazed curtain wall inserts framed in white.
Facade system
Perforated terracotta brick cavity screen wall combined with glazed curtain walls and glass balustrades.
Structural guess
Reinforced concrete frame with non-loadbearing terracotta screen walls.
Spatial scale
Child-scale and human-scaled courtyards and terraces integrated within a multi-story educational volume.
Lighting
Bright direct daylight casting crisp shadows across the textured brick surfaces and accentuating the deep geometric profiles.
Atmosphere
Vibrant, porous, and warm, with filtered light passing through patterned brickwork into educational spaces.
Environmental context
Low-rise institutional campus setting with lush green planting at ground level and open sky background.
Spatial experience
The layered massing creates a rhythmic progression of indoor-outdoor transitions between landscaped courtyards, terraces, and perforated brick screens.
Composition rhythm
Dynamic diagonal rooflines contrasted against the rigid horizontal and vertical grid of the brick screen perforations.
Style reading
Contemporary playful institutional architecture
Program
Kindergarten or educational facility
Perspective
Exterior Facade
Discipline
architecture
Materials
terracotta-brick, glass, steel, concrete
Visual identifiers
perforated-brick, terracotta-screen, angled-roof, cantilevered-terrace, curtain-wall
Style tags
contemporary, playful, contextual, textured
Visual tags
educational, perforated-screen, daylight-control, outdoor-learning, massing, campus
Geometry
Complex articulated volumes step and intersect, featuring angled gable roofs, cantilevered terraces, and glazed curtain wall inserts framed in white.
Facade system
Perforated terracotta brick cavity screen wall combined with glazed curtain walls and glass balustrades.
Structural guess
Reinforced concrete frame with non-loadbearing terracotta screen walls.
Spatial scale
Child-scale and human-scaled courtyards and terraces integrated within a multi-story educational volume.
Lighting
Bright direct daylight casting crisp shadows across the textured brick surfaces and accentuating the deep geometric profiles.
Atmosphere
Vibrant, porous, and warm, with filtered light passing through patterned brickwork into educational spaces.
Environmental context
Low-rise institutional campus setting with lush green planting at ground level and open sky background.
Spatial experience
The layered massing creates a rhythmic progression of indoor-outdoor transitions between landscaped courtyards, terraces, and perforated brick screens.
Composition rhythm
Dynamic diagonal rooflines contrasted against the rigid horizontal and vertical grid of the brick screen perforations.
Style reading
Contemporary playful institutional architecture
Program
Kindergarten or educational facility
Perspective
Exterior Facade
Discipline
architecture

Related in this portfolio