317studio turns Taiwan classroom into circular learning space for scout education

317studio’s Qingshan Forest has been named Jury Winner in the Educational Interiors category at the 14th Annual Architizer A+Awards. Located in New Taipei City, Taiwan, the project reimagines the classroom as a flexible interior landscape for teaching, discussion, making and indoor scout activities.

Designed for a junior high school, Qingshan Forest responds to a practical climatic condition. In Taiwan’s rainy weather, outdoor scout education is often brought indoors, yet conventional classrooms rarely support the physical and collective nature of these activities. Instead of treating the interior as a substitute for the outdoors, 317studio turns it into an active learning environment with its own spatial character.

The project moves away from the typical classroom arrangement centred on a fixed front. In its place, 317studio introduces a circular spatial order that encourages movement, participation and exchange. This configuration allows the room to shift between formal instruction, group discussion, rope practice, hands on making and indoor tent pitching.

By softening the hierarchy between teacher and students, the circular layout creates a more open and collaborative atmosphere. Learning is no longer directed only from one side of the room, but unfolds through shared activity, changing positions and direct engagement with space.

Qingshan Forest treats the classroom as a small interior terrain rather than a static room. Its openness supports different rhythms of use, from concentrated teaching to collective practice. The project is modest in scale, but precise in its response to how education actually happens through bodies, tools, conversation and repeated action.

317studio is an interior design practice based in Taiwan, working across spatial design, educational environments and everyday living. The studio approaches each project through the relationship between people, space and use, creating environments that are thoughtful, adaptable and grounded in daily experience.

Project Credits

Project: Qingshan Forest Junior High School Classroom
Short title: Qingshan Forest
Design: 317studio / @317designstudio
Location: New Taipei City, Taiwan
Completion year: 2025
Photography: Yuchen Chao Photography / @yuchenchao_studio