A knot-shaped rooftop will be used as a vegetable garden at this kindergarten by Vo Trong Nghia Architects that's under construction in Dong Nai, Vietnam (+ slideshow).
Farming Kindergarten by Vo Trong Nghia Architects
Set to complete later this year, the Farming Kindergarten is designed by Vietnamese firm Vo Trong Nghia Architects as a prototype for sustainable school design, where children can learn how to grow their own food.
Farming Kindergarten by Vo Trong Nghia Architects
The roof has a continuous surface that loops around to frame the outline of three courtyard playgrounds. It slopes up from the ground and peaks at two storeys, allowing an easy climb to the vegetable garden for children and their teachers.
Farming Kindergarten by Vo Trong Nghia Architects
"While these internal courtyards provide safety and comfortable playgrounds for children, the roof makes a landing to the courtyards at both sides, allowing children to enter a very special eco-friendly experience when they walk up and go through it," say the architects.
Farming Kindergarten by Vo Trong Nghia Architects
Classrooms inside the building will follow the same loop as the roof and will accommodate up to 500 children. Concrete louvres will shade the windows, offering relief from intense sunlight.
Farming Kindergarten by Vo Trong Nghia Architects
Farming Kindergarten by Vo Trong Nghia Architects
Farming Kindergarten by Vo Trong Nghia Architects
Construction photography is by Hiroyuki Oki.
Farming Kindergarten by Vo Trong Nghia Architects
Here's a project description from Vo Trong Nghia Architects:

Farming Kindergarten
This kindergarten, for 500 pre-school children, is a prototype for sustainable education spaces in tropical climates. The plan was designed for the factory workers children of Pou Chen Vietnam.
Farming Kindergarten by Vo Trong Nghia Architects
The building concept is a "Farming Kindergarten" with a continuous green roof, providing food and agriculture experience to Vietnamese children, as well as a safe outdoor playground.
Farming Kindergarten by Vo Trong Nghia Architects
The green roof is a triple-ring-shape drawn with a single stroke, creating three courtyards inside. While these internal courtyards provide safety and comfortable playgrounds for children, the roof makes landing to the courtyards at both sides, allowing children to enter a very special eco-friendly experience when they walk up and go through it. This green roof is designed as a continuous vegetable garden, a place to teach children the importance of agriculture and relationship with nature.
Farming Kindergarten by Vo Trong Nghia Architects
Architectural and mechanical energy-saving methods are comprehensively applied including but not limited to: green roof, PC-concrete louver for shading, recycle materials, water recycling, solar water heating and so on. These devices are designed visibly for children to play their important role in sustainable education. The building is designed to maximise the natural ventilation through a computational fluid dynamics analysis.
Farming Kindergarten by Vo Trong Nghia Architects
Ground floor plan - click for larger image
The building is now under construction and expected to start its operation in September 2013.
Farming Kindergarten by Vo Trong Nghia Architects
First floor plan - click for larger image
Status: Under construction
Program: Kindergarten
Location: Dongnai, Vietnam
Site area: 10,650 m2
GFA: 3,800m2
Farming Kindergarten by Vo Trong Nghia Architects
Elevations - click for larger image
Architect Firm: Vo Trong Nghia Architects
Principal architects: Vo Trong Nghia, Takashi Niwa, Masaaki Iwamoto
Architects: Tran Thi Hang, Kuniko Onishi
Contractor: Wind and Water House JSC
Client: Pou Chen Vietnam