American School in Japan

Hindered by aging facilities and a fragmented campus, the new American School in Japan Master Plan realizes the fluid learning environment ASIJ envisions for its future.

The logical challenges posed by adapting a pre-existing, operational campus require innovation design solutions that at once overcome the site’s limitations and realize the school’s pedagogical mission. This proposed master plan is fabricated to accommodate a phased building model, allowing for minimal interference to learning throughout the construction process. This is accomplished by replacing all but two existing buildings and reorganizing academic and athletic facilities into discrete neighborhoods.

To recapture the athletic field lost to the new high school in Phase 1, a state-of the-art athletics complex is tucked underneath a new secondary playing field that has been lifted five meters in the air to make room for the pool and gymnasium below. As a result, the gymnasium has access to daylight while stacking makes use of the limited site space and accommodates the phased building process. Such innovative creates a new identity for athletics on campus, separating it from academics while connecting it to the campus green. Throughout the process, no portion of the student body will ever be relocated to accommodate construction, making the design feasible for an operational academic institution.

The building’s design offers ASIJ the flexibility to mold their facilities overtime, serving the school as it grows and adapts its scholastic philosophy. Ennead’s plan thinks beyond ASIJ’s current academic pedagogy, designing an open, interconnected campus that can adapt to best serve the world’s future citizens, and maintain ASIJ’s position as a leader of American-style preparatory education abroad.