King’s College International School Bangkok, Sixth Form Center
Design by Onion
Photograph by W Workspace
The Sixth Form Center is located in a new building designed for senior high school students at King’s College International School Bangkok. It takes up the space of two floors, and includes lockers, living areas, study areas, playrooms, teacher and consultant rooms, drinking water and snack vending machines.
The new center functions like the students’ lounge. They use this space outside classroom hours. Onion provides many types of chairs and seating arrangements to serve how students would like to sit. There are individual seats, group seats, seats for reading, working and relaxation. Navy blue accents and surfaces are used throughout the Sixth Form Center, the colour for the school’s senior year. It is part of a colour palette of pale wood, silver and light blue.
Every space in this Sixth Form Center overlooks another. There is no enclosed space that cannot be seen, for a reason of safety. Many walls are cladded with white coloured glass so that students can write on them. They are made to be easily wiped clean.
The central staircase is designed to be the sitting area that connects the fourth and the fifth floors. Within this space, students can see the activities around them and they can also be seen. The seating faces the football courtyard, the green area of the school. This is for students to see outdoor activities and movements that happen outside.
Playrooms are enclosed by transparent glass. Light blue coloured metal laminate panels are the main materials inside the rooms. They have an exposed gridded structure, covering both walls and ceilings. This enclosure looks like an enlarged graph paper notebook, the kind students use. The same pattern is used in different locations around the Sixth Form Center.