MIC Primary Learning ClusterSchematic Design Phase (Development Approval)
As a 2 storey courtyard building, the Primary school complex provides 8 learning environments that open out onto sheltered communal decks. Outdoor learning can continue during wet weather with convenience and casual surveillance from teachers. The central court also provides a sheltered link to the library as well as frames views to it and the Administration Building. Development can be staged in a number of ways to achieve the overall plan: (1) by delivering each flanking wing; or (2) by building the second floor and roof first to harvest the maximum amount of rain water for the school’s water supply, then the under croft areas would be completed at a later stage. Detailed Design Phase (Stage 1 works) The original concept for Building 3 (see above) served as the Primary school in based on a rectangular courtyard building. After the Block Grant Authority revealed its funding offer, five options for stage 1 construction were evaluated and the most economical spatial programme was one new building to house the interim ELC, Primary school and administration space. Acoustic modelling required by the development approval also showed that the rectangular courtyard building was too susceptible to traffic noise due to its permeable indoor-outdoor form. So a new plan was generated to respond to the new data. A walled round house protects the learning environments, external verandas and courtyard from the traffic noise Figure 1) The courtyard was enlarged to satisfy the open space regulations for the ELC, but in the future when the ELC is in its own dedicated building, the courtyard will adapt to be a multi-use space. With plans for a roof in the longer term, the courtyard can be a vibrant heart of activity – food garden, outdoor classroom and event space for large gatherings (Figure 2). The walls of the Round House are double brick insulated cavity to achieve the 50db acoustic rating more economically compared to multiwall timber construction. The concrete slabs will use 40% fly ash instead of Portland cement, making the concrete more durable and eco-friendly. A flat roof allows future expansion upwards in the longer term whilst providing an experimental learning space for students (e.g. noise monitoring, air quality monitoring, green roof trials). The round house is surrounded by 16 water tanks to harvest the maximum amount of rain water for the school’s water supply. The encircling colonnades around the courtyard are screened in mesh to allow endemic climbing vines to grow and create a green wall to help filter air pollutants (Figure 3). The roadside landscape buffer will also filter traffic pollutants from the air. Within each learning environment 0.75sqm of indoor potted plants will assist in improving indoor air quality. The playscape is located in the north-west sector of the round house, positioned to overlook nature. The playscape is a multi-level terrain shaded by the floor above it. Evoking the nostaglic cultural heritage of children playing in the undercroft space of The Queenslander (Figure 4). |
Schematic Design Phase (Development Approval)
Detailed Design Phase (Stage 1 works)
Click to see Completed Building (Stage 1 works)
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