Final Presentation

So...Critiques...

After two hectic weeks of redesigning this is what i finally presented!

Final Project 3...Done and dusted!!

Hmmm!...Really?...Interesting...

While searching the net i found some interesting methods in which to use waste products...

Smile Plastics Ltd
Recycled plastic sheets

In today's world there is a growing awareness of the urgent problem of waste management. Much of this waste is packaging material - metal, paper, glass and plastic, and after use it is thrown into our dustbins and transported to increasingly expensive landfill sites or incinerated. But a growing proportion is sorted and recycled. As a result, new materials are being devised and fabricated.

Smile Plastics is committed to sourcing and developing innovative ideas and markets for recycled materials, concentrating on transforming plastics waste into multicoloured sheets.

In 1994 we launched the company with sheets from recycled household plastic bottles. Since then we have made products based on crushed CDs, plastic water bottles, banknotes, and Dapple, scrap from our own factory. We now have sheets made from old mobile phones and even kids’ wellies

Water bottles are being recycled to build an interior wall

 

Architect Duncan Baker-Brown has incorporated water bottles from the site to create an interior wall. So we now have mud, lime, hemp, wood, plastic, glass, rubber and thousands of screws. It's hot work on the roof and fortunately a medic is on hand to give out sun screen.

Hehe!

A little more research before the review...

I have been looking at how i could construct my classroom building. I was very interested in straw bale construction as straw is a natural by-product and is renewable. However there was issues with how i wanted to make it load bearing and the detailing around the roof. 

I discussed my issues with a couple of friends in the class and they pointed me in the direction of a pre-constructed  panel which used straw. The system is called Modcell.

I have collected some information on it...

ModCell™ is the first product to make large-scale, carbon-negative building a commercial reality.

The ModCell™ system utilises the excellent thermal insulation qualities of straw bale and hemp construction to form prefabricated panels, made in a local Flying Factory™. 

ModCell™ allows super-insulated, high-performance, low energy ‘passive’ buildings to be built using renewable, locally sourced, carbon sequestering materials.

 

 

ModCell™ is designed for use in housing, schools, offices and commercial buildings.

This innovative, offsite-manufactured wall and roof cladding system can be quickly and efficiently installed, creating buildings with thermal performance up to three times higher than the current building regulations require. 

This super-insulated system, combined with our airtight details, means that buildings constructed using ModCell™ panels meet the demanding PassivHaus specification. As a result, ModCell™ buildings can have zero heat requirements, saving money and CO2 emissions.

ModCell™ is the first product to make large-scale, carbon-negative building a commercial reality.

The ModCell™ system utilises the excellent thermal insulation qualities of straw bale and hemp construction to form prefabricated panels, made in a local Flying Factory™. 

ModCell™ allows super-insulated, high-performance, low energy ‘passive’ buildings to be built using renewable, locally sourced, carbon sequestering materials.

 

 

ModCell™ is designed for use in housing, schools, offices and commercial buildings.

This innovative, offsite-manufactured wall and roof cladding system can be quickly and efficiently installed, creating buildings with thermal performance up to three times higher than the current building regulations require. 

This super-insulated system, combined with our airtight details, means that buildings constructed using ModCell™ panels meet the demanding PassivHaus specification. As a result, ModCell™ buildings can have zero heat requirements, saving money and CO2 emissions.

 

 

ModCell™ Panels are available in two variants:

ModCell Straw™ ModCell Hemp™

Both can be dry-lined or rendered. Lime render and plasters conform to mortar category CSII according to BS EN 998-1; Contain hydraulic lime as the bonding agent; and are breathable (water and vapour permeable). ModCell™ Panels are delivered to site with a two layer render finish in and out.  Finish skim coats are site applied off of a scaffold or cherry picker to internal and external grades.

Dry-lining finishes vary from project to project, ModCell™ can factory fix the battening for dry-lining, but do not supply the dry-lining materials.

ModCell™ panels can be lifted into position on site using a telescopic arm or crane. The mass of the largest ModCell™ panel is 1.7 tonnes. Panels are located with a 20mm gap between each and are sealed using compressible tapes.

Weathering details vary from project to project and are not supplied by ModCell™.

ModCell™ u Value data
ModCell Straw™ 490 mm 0.13
ModCell Hemp™ 300 mm 0.22
ModCell Hemp™ 490 mm 0.14
Current UK Building Regulations demand that a Cavity Wall has U Value of 0.35

Sequestered Carbon:
3m x 3.2m panel 750kg of atmospheric CO2
Typycal 100m2 BaleHaus 30 tonnes of atmospheric CO2

Fire Performance 
ModCell Straw™ 2hrs
ModCell Hemp™ +2hrs

Acoustics - sound reduction
ModCell Straw™ 490 mm 70db
ModCell Hemp™ 490 mm 65db

ModCell™ Panels are manufactured in a variety of module sizes.

BaleHaus provides:

    Zero Carbon Housing Solution

 

    Sustainable

    Environmentally Friendly

    Low Energy

    Cost Effective

 

BaleHaus™ is a whole house solution that uses ModCell Straw™ and ModCell Hemp™ cladding panels. It provides a super insulating system that meets the PassivHaus specification for zero heat homes.

BaleHaus™ is designed to be dismantled, re-used and recycled at the end of a typical 100 year+ life.

Above: Knowle West Media Centre, Bristol

Above: YorkEco Depot

The above images are of buildings which were constructed using this method of construction.

The above information and pictures was sourced from www.modcell.com.uk

More Development...

There is something about the folded form of the roof... in order to shade for the sun i have extended this idea of the of the folding form. These structures would be timber and louvres. 

The folded form emerging from the wall 

 

Hmmm!...Interesting idea...

"Back to the drawing board"...This is what I have...

After metres and metres of white trace.....

The image below developed.

There is something about the section at the base of the drawing (the large piece which juts out) that i dislike...i followed my earlier inspiration of a boomerang shape, and developed it further. There will be barely any walls which divide classes, there are large learning area which open on to outdoor learnings and collaborative learning spaces.

Below is an image between the two spaces it opens up into a courtyard which is an outdoor learning space and there is also a outdoor area which has stepped seating areas.

The Stepped seating area

Form Idea

Over head form layout

Photographs of Strawbale Buildings...

Below is an building which is built on the South Coast

Only sections of the walls are created by the Strawbale construction, i really like the effect that is created by this. The large windows allow a lot of light to enter the space. Ventilation could be incorporated into this design.

Below are images of a house in Wallan

I really like the window ledge created by the wall thickness, this space could be used by people sitting to read a book or simply sit in the sun.

The images below are of the Murto P-12 School

I really like this feature, it allows people to see whats in the wall and what is happening inside.

Strawbale Inspiration...

Straw is a waste product–it’s what’s left after grain is harvested — it is a renewable resource, grown annually. It’s also extremely energy efficient. Testing indicates that a two-foot-thick bale has an insulation rating (R-value) that beats a standard wood frame wall insulated with R-19 batts by a factor of nearly three.

The Waldorf School students in the Roaring Fork Valley of western Colorado, is one of the first schools in the United States to use this form of construction. The building hosts five classrooms as well as administrative offices, bathrooms, and ample storage. Each classroom has south-facing windows for passive solar gain, and a light shelf and skylights for natural daylighting. Overhangs and an east-west building orientation prevent overheating and optimize solar gain. The school has hydronic radiant floor backup heat, and is plumbed for solar hot water collectors. The use of old growth wood was minimized by using Parallam posts, glue-lam beams, truss joists, and prefabricated trusses. The walls in between the classrooms have recycled cotton insulation for soundproofing. The ceiling is insulated with R-50 recycled fiberglass. The straw-bale walls also act as an excellent sound barrier

Information sourced from: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/passive-solar-straw-bale-school.html

Torquay Middle School Campus Site Visit

So after the master critique, i decided that some extra help was required for the design of these flexible learning spaces. I went on a site visit with Pam Kinsman of the Torquay Middle School Campus which is currently under-construction. This school has been designed with the flexible learning environment in mind. It was very interesting to have a walk around the site and the seen how this space would. Pam explained where everything was and how it would work. This site visit was very useful, it allowed me to see how this flexible learning environment would work. 

Below are some images i took on the site to Torquay Middle school Campus.

The space above is a large flexible learning area, these areas are said to hold 80 to 90 children. The windows and the door in the background lead to a outdoor learning area. This space will be carpeted and used for most of the teaching of the children.

High Skylights increase the light which enters the space.

Very high ceilings in these spaces.

This leads to an outdoor learning area

This is another open flexible learning area which leads to an outdoor learning space. You can see that lots of windows are used and bring in the daylight and give views from the classrooms.

The exposed trusses were undesired however using the trusses reduced the cost of construction keeping in check with the budget.

One other thing observed from the visit to the Torquay Middle School Campus was that the teachers offices/areas had many windows which are used for supervision purposes.

There is a disabled toilet which doubles as a staff toilet. From what Pam was saying it appears that maybe the toilets located in the building are only for staff, and that students would go to the student block.

Master Critique...

Master Critique....hmmmm!!

So...after today the decision has been made...."Back to the Drawing Board!"

The biggest thing i think I'm struggling with in this project is the notion of teaching in these large open spaces. I'm struggling to see how the senior students who will complete VCE which is quite a structured environment in these open flexible learning spaces.

I guess i have 2 weeks to work that out now!