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The hall ceiling with its distinctive canopy
http://www.greenbuildnews.co.uk/images/img/articles/297_198/Articles_464_1_1321350214.jpg
The two-storey newbuild block at Place Farm Primary School
http://www.greenbuildnews.co.uk/images/img/articles/297_198/Articles_464_2_1321350214.jpg
The vision for Place Farm Primary School was to create an inspiring and effective teaching environment using low-carbon or zero-carbon technologies, pushing the boundaries of sustainable design beyond BREEAM requirements on a restricted budget. Using design workshops right from the start, the Tree House design concept immediately captured the imagination of staff and pupils and helped them learn what sustainability entailed in terms of building design.
To help pupils take ownership of their new building, each pupil had a green pencil to colour the external façade at canopy level. Pupils could recognise their own panel and by seeing their children involved, parents were also engaged. A spokesperson for the school explains: “During the design process for our new building project we were very keen to get staff and pupils involved right from the beginning. The children coloured in charts for the external cladding, they chose colours for toilet doors and we had class activities showing which materials were being used to build classrooms. We also took children round at different stages of construction so they could see progress of their designs and their new classrooms. Thanks to this we have all benefited from a new learning experience, learnt more about sustainability and the overall effect this will have in the future.”
Key sustainable elements are:
- construction of the two-storey structure in 100% timber with screw pile foundations reduced off-site waste. Using locally-sourced prefabricated timber cassette panels with highly insulated hemp insulation and laminated timber beams for floors and roofs means the structure has very low CO2 embodied energy
- the building environment is designed to be 100% naturally ventilated using user control stack vents and underfloor heating using an air source heat pump.
- all materials were carefully selected to allow the building to be constructed from 90% Green Guide Rated A/A+ materials including recycled glass screed, high-recycled-content carpet tiles, Thermowood cladding, recyclable aluminium upper cladding and a roof system made from a high proportion of recycled content
John Sharp, project architect at Pick Everard comments: “Thanks to our clients, Suffolk County Council and the Place Farm Primary School, we all worked together to maximise the opportunities the site presented and pushed the boundaries of sustainable educational design. Place Farm demonstrates that our role as designers can have a profound impact in the teaching environment. We hope that with extensive consultation throughout this successful project, we have inspired pupils and educated the next generation in sustainable building design.”
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