Home to just 3,000 people, the quiet Hakka village of Duling is nestled into the lush, verdant deciduous canopy that covers much of southern China’s Guangxi region. Fed by consistent — but sometimes dangerous — rainfall, the rich landscape belies a shortage of reliable fresh water, which poses a chronic risk to public health. For architect Elisabeth Lee and her students, the challenging condition presented a unique opportunity; the design of a new school and community hub combines an elegant rainwater harvesting system with passive filtration infrastructure that augments an inadequate local supply of well water.

The project was undertaken as part of the University of Hong Kong’s non-profit Project Mingde, an initiative established in 2003 by the school’s Department of Civil Engineering with the aim of providing remote and under-resourced communities across Asia with improved education and transportation infrastructure.

The new kindergarten and community centre adjoins an older school, which was retrofitted as part of the Project Mingde initiative.

Led by Lee and a group of students, the project was carried out in two phases, beginning with the renovation of an existing school building structurally damaged by decades of heavy rains and inclement weather. A simple two-storey structure with a vaulted roof, the older facility was retrofitted with a new roof to protect the building from further damage, while a new bathroom was also introduced, providing a vital amenity to a community urgently lacking in sanitation infrastructure.

As the older facility was retrofitted, the Project Mingde team spent significant time on site, surveying the geography and climate while working closely with the local community to understand practical needs and cultural context. Developed through consultation, the brief for the project’s second phase called for a new kindergarten alongside the existing elementary school, as well as a cultural centre devoted to community programming.

Working with water was paramount. While working to protect the building from the weather-related damage suffered by the older school, the designers sought to harness the rainwater as a productive asset. Inspired by the half-moon ponds that traditionally accompany Hakka homes and villages — which symbolize wealth and prosperity, and often serve as community gathering spots — Elisabeth Lee and the Project Mingde students devised a terraced roof structure that channels rainwater into a new lotus pond that fronts the complex.

The pond directs the deluge into an underground reservoir, where a recycling system cleans the water, which is then pumped back into the school, serving the new bathrooms. Above it all, a cascading trio of new sloping roofs negotiate a transition from a two-storey form down to grade. Arranged into a C-shape, the three volumes foster a sense of kinetic drama that itself evokes — and celebrates — both the flow of water and the rolling countryside. While the form serves the flow of water, it also frames a sheltered courtyard, which offers the community an intuitive social space.

Inside, the 500-square-metre facility is organized with a simple open plan, prioritizing an evolving cultural programming and an indoor-outdoor kindergarten. For Duling residents of all ages, the new hub offers pleasant natural ventilation, improved sanitation, new cultural spaces, and majestic views of the landscape.