The new precinct is an extension of the existing historical garden and monastery, through a controlled access point and through the new public building along the west, where it is accessible to the existing garden, the public street and the new proposed library. In the mid 1990s government public policy was relaxed, with respect to religion. The Abbot of Xiyuan Buddhist Monastery initiated a process of revising and expanding Buddhist practice and culture in 2 specific ways: education of monks and controlled public interface for practitioners (Householders).

The new school will include classrooms, 3 small library study halls, apartments and mediation rooms. The public facility will include a large lecture hall, restaurant, tearoom and artifact store. The aesthetic explored, at the client’s request, the middle path between conservation and change. The site will expand the existing public gardens into the university site.