VMDPE designed Pony Running National Showroom with intentionality in color, space, and stimulation geared towards young learners in Shenzhen, China.

Transparent glass separates a shiny and bright yellow world of joy from the sober grayness of the city outside. Despite being surrounded by a forest of reinforced concrete, its warm atmosphere flows through time and space, favoring the spiritual growth of children. Pony Running, as the name of the brand implies, goes beyond the boundaries of traditional thinking, granting children invisible wings of freedom to move at will, explore and grow in an inspiring mini universe full of possibilities.

As an early childhood education institution, Pony Running is widely cherished for its rich teaching system. A small class structure stands at the core of its educational concept, focusing on the personality needs and potential of every child. To perform the brand upgrade, VMPDE Design was inspired by the emerging approach of an “Earth Building” found in the Western Architectural “School of Natural Life”. Based on the natural disposition of children, the use of adult “decoration” techniques was completely abandoned, highlighting the beauty and fun of the building itself, letting children be children in a free environment.

In terms of material selection, a large number of environmentally friendly materials were integrated into the design language, demonstrating the sustainability philosophy of the designers and educators, and creating an “oasis” for children among the concrete jungle. In terms of color selection, colorful schemes were rejected in favor of a unique main tone that enhances the appeal of the environment, letting people feel the moment, in a comfortable, happy, classic and pure manner, rather than focusing on materialistic attributes. Such positive psychological and emotional suggestions are transmitted to the outside world through the floor-to-ceiling glass façade, arousing strong resonance among the local people.

Regarding the relationship between decoration and practicality, VMDPE Design firmly believes that function is the core of the modern educational space. Thus, the designer parts away with redundant ornaments, shapes are reduced to their minimum expression, there are no meaningless decorations and only essentials for a healthy life are nourished, focusing architectural content on didactic functions and activities for children. On this basis, both spatial integration and color matching use the “simplest” techniques to highlight a natural and essential temperament, eventually devoting all the space to the children.

The entire social area adopts an open design that arranges several corners called “nests”, where children are free to choose their favorite location at any given time. The scale of the space has been carefully balanced, designing all corners in a way that allows teachers to observe, while transmitting children a comfortable feeling of privacy. Furthermore, everything from materials to the design style has been carefully thought to provide a high degree of safety in the area. This allows children to move freely, while teachers participate and guide activities on the side, stimulating children to learn to think during play and develop their own personalities. This is the place where children chase and play, they can play leisurely in a corner, they can be accompanied by teachers, or they can explore freely, in other words: empower children to choose for themselves, stimulating their personalities to grow in a natural way.

The designer parts away with any cumbersome furnishings and complex color matching techniques, creating a positive learning environment for children to study, a place less susceptible to outside interference. Even more, children psychology is considered to design every corner on the right scale, allowing children to feel safe and relaxed, encouraging them to take part in group activities at ease.

Architect: VMDPE
Design Team: Vinci Chan, Sean Ve, Dio Chang
Photography: Zhang Chao