Since 2016, we have been collaborating with a Hong Kong based, non-profit organization “Build a Music School” (BAMS), to initiate, design and build a music school campus in the remote area of Myanmar’s Kengtung. After two years of vigorous bottom-up design processes with local stakeholders, construction commenced in 2018.

The team designed four low-rise storey buildings at the peak of the valley for music education and boarding school purposes. The aim is to house and educate orphans with musical talents, providing them with a better future. Challenged by the tropical climate and the geographical limitation in electricity supply, the compound has been arranged for circulating natural ventilation, while each buildings’ facade is finished with locally sourced bamboo for natural cooling effects. As an implementation of the studio’s belief in community engagement, hundreds of local villagers were recruited to participate in the school’s construction to empower the local community, sustain the local economy, while providing them with an opportunity to experience and learn from the process of building construction. In addition to serving the purpose of a school, the four buildings reserve different spaces for community use, where the neighborhood is welcome to share their bondings under the roof of a music school.