Thursday, October 23, 2008
Week 10 - New Design
From the design change layout of the floor plans, obviously the design of the exterior form needed to as well. The Kingspan 'shell' is still employed but more uniform geometric shapes are used. As the shell raps over the separate home eco and cafe buildings, the shell also brings the design together to form one complete design, rather than a disjointed or incomplete look.
Our group opted early to incorporate the landscape within our designs and throughout the site. With the intention of creating wind and noise breaks by creating mounds and dense planting in specific locations, we have also chosen to mound the land up against our buildings to create an appearance that the buildings grew out of the ground, rather than were simply placed there.
This created the option for underground passages, as shown in the top drawing where the path from the classrooms to the outdoor learning area to the south is entirely underground.
The now angled roof, as opposed to the early flat roof, adds to the effect that the building is growing out of the ground. At this point the roof of the second storey matches the profile of the roof of the shells, but as the entire building is not two storey, this may change.
Week 10 - Early Design
These are very early design sketches that i had. Before the room layouts were developed i pictured a dome shaped internal structure with a 'shell' of custom Kingspan panels wrapping around the exterior off set from the internal structure by 2000mm or so. This gave the impression of a turtle's shell in the water which i thought was appropriate with the water and surfing lifestyle of Torquay.
Week 10 - Inspiration
As i intend to employ Kingspan Panels as my main cladding for both their insulation properties and aesthetic appeal i thought it worthwhile to find some existing examples to gain some inspiration:
Week Nine - Refined Layout
Now that all room dimensions, layouts etc have been determined, a final plan for my main building can take shape:
A central atrium space has now been created between the two main classroom buildings to ring environmental design, which is a strong aspect to this project, into the design itself, rather than just surrounding it with it. The two storey buildings act as an effective wind break to the northern section of the site where the buildings will be exposed to the elements.
A central atrium space has now been created between the two main classroom buildings to ring environmental design, which is a strong aspect to this project, into the design itself, rather than just surrounding it with it. The two storey buildings act as an effective wind break to the northern section of the site where the buildings will be exposed to the elements.
Week Nine - Outdoor Learning
To create a unique learning environment, we have opted to develop outdoor learning areas that will aid in the students education. As very few schools optimise this aspect of learning, we thought it necessary to place some emphasis on this and allow students to learn the one thing in as many ways as possible:
As you can see, all the various designs are built into the ground. This creates a very personal space that is protected against wind and noise from adjacent sites and the rest of the school while still providing a very unique and enjoyable learning experience for the students, not to mention for the teachers as well.
As you can see, all the various designs are built into the ground. This creates a very personal space that is protected against wind and noise from adjacent sites and the rest of the school while still providing a very unique and enjoyable learning experience for the students, not to mention for the teachers as well.
Week Nine - Toilets
The toilets in my section of the plan are located attached to the northern end of the main classrooms building, male on one corner, female on the other. With significant traffic expected to flow through this area from both the northern admin section and western performing arts and gym, these centrally located toilets have been designed to allow for not just those using these facilities in a maths or english class for example:
As you can see both toilets have an airlock that allow students to wash their hands without actually entering the toilet area if need be and timber seating to act as a change room as well. The male toilets feature individual urinals rather than the traditional urinal wall.
As you can see both toilets have an airlock that allow students to wash their hands without actually entering the toilet area if need be and timber seating to act as a change room as well. The male toilets feature individual urinals rather than the traditional urinal wall.
Week Nine - Cafe and Kitchen
The cafe and kitchen has been located on the north east corner of the main classrooms building. Located to open directly onto the main pedestrian access to the site the cafe, with its outdoor eating areas, could also be used out of school hours if sporting matches are taking place in the gym or if performances are being held in the performing arts or music areas:
Week Nine - Home Economics
With the location of the building and the basic room layout finalised, specific room dimensions and planning can occur. This post shows the layout for the home economics rooms of which there will be two with a storge room between:
Week Nine - Room Layout
With further development of the masterplan our buildings have started to take shape. I am going to be developing the main central building which will house home economics, cafe/kitchen and general classrooms and the adjacent science block which is situated in the south east corner.
Before specific room dimensions have been worked out, i have a basic diagram that illustrates the intended layout for the rooms and the relationships via ease of travel:
The central structure, which is an intended two storey building will house the general classrooms for the site. Rapping around this main structure on the northern side which creates internal, covered walkways are the home economics rooms and the cafe and kitchen.
As ease of travel through the site is a main factor in our design, you can see in the drawing on the right that the main structure has been split into two sections to create a focal walkway that travels through the center of the site. As this building is located in the middle of the site this is an important aspect to increasing pedestrian travel.
Before specific room dimensions have been worked out, i have a basic diagram that illustrates the intended layout for the rooms and the relationships via ease of travel:
The central structure, which is an intended two storey building will house the general classrooms for the site. Rapping around this main structure on the northern side which creates internal, covered walkways are the home economics rooms and the cafe and kitchen.
As ease of travel through the site is a main factor in our design, you can see in the drawing on the right that the main structure has been split into two sections to create a focal walkway that travels through the center of the site. As this building is located in the middle of the site this is an important aspect to increasing pedestrian travel.
Week Eight - Masterplan
This week it was our task to produce a basic masterplan for how we picture the new year 10-12 school to be laid out on the old Surfcoast Shire's site. This here is my initial proposal for the school: (If the image is a a little hard to read its because its an A3 sheet scanned on an A4 printer then put together to make one image)...
I proposed that the existing building be demolished ad be replaced with a native plants garden entrance with a central fountain. With dense planting and trees this would be a strong design feature for visitors to be welcomed by and could be a popular communal area. Parking, both staff and drop off/pickup are located in the existing car parks and i have included a bus bay on the south side of the existing building.
The gym and general classrooms are located adjacent to the entrance for practicality as the gym would be intended to be used on weekends for sporting activities and so near the entrance is ideal. As the general classrooms would be the most used, being near the entrance would leave students with shorter walks and being a large building, a strong exterior design could be a strong focal point of the site.
Lockers are placed on the west side of the classrooms for ease of travel, home eco in the south west corner, adjacent to the outdoor covered area where outdoor cooking classes could be held with the proposed external wood oven, south of the gym is a large grassed area where P.E classes would be held and allow students to use it at lunch breaks and adjacent to this is the student garden. The sciences, library and various arts are then to the east side.
The basic intention of this proposal is for a practical layout with ease of travel through the site in mind that could easily be developed to accoun for various environmental impacts such as wind, sun etc.
I proposed that the existing building be demolished ad be replaced with a native plants garden entrance with a central fountain. With dense planting and trees this would be a strong design feature for visitors to be welcomed by and could be a popular communal area. Parking, both staff and drop off/pickup are located in the existing car parks and i have included a bus bay on the south side of the existing building.
The gym and general classrooms are located adjacent to the entrance for practicality as the gym would be intended to be used on weekends for sporting activities and so near the entrance is ideal. As the general classrooms would be the most used, being near the entrance would leave students with shorter walks and being a large building, a strong exterior design could be a strong focal point of the site.
Lockers are placed on the west side of the classrooms for ease of travel, home eco in the south west corner, adjacent to the outdoor covered area where outdoor cooking classes could be held with the proposed external wood oven, south of the gym is a large grassed area where P.E classes would be held and allow students to use it at lunch breaks and adjacent to this is the student garden. The sciences, library and various arts are then to the east side.
The basic intention of this proposal is for a practical layout with ease of travel through the site in mind that could easily be developed to accoun for various environmental impacts such as wind, sun etc.
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Week Seven: Design
So here is the video our group (Group 13 - Jayden, Dave and I) produced. Hope you enjoy and just scroll down to the next post for our design intentions and materials that we used to focus on the sustainability side and issues of this project.
Week Six: Development
Over the last couple of weeks, as everyone knows we've been designing our solutions to the Mod-5 portable classroom issues. So this post shows our development drawings which can be linked to previous posts to see what we have been trying to achieve.
The basis of our design was a 'telescopic' structure that when compacted is the width of a truck tray which when on site could be pulled out to form a space three times that of it when it is compacted. This creates an ease of transport and erection/demountability and some adaptability to the size of each individual segment.
Within the structure are two classrooms with a retractable wall down the centre to open the space into one large learning area, wet areas, private learning zones embedded in the walls, storage spaces and teachers offices.
As listed in a previous post, all materials are environmentally friendly from the Resene paints and allergy/asthma free carpets to the Kingspan insulated panels. For more specific details on the materials used just scroll down a few posts and check out what we used.
The basis of our design was a 'telescopic' structure that when compacted is the width of a truck tray which when on site could be pulled out to form a space three times that of it when it is compacted. This creates an ease of transport and erection/demountability and some adaptability to the size of each individual segment.
Within the structure are two classrooms with a retractable wall down the centre to open the space into one large learning area, wet areas, private learning zones embedded in the walls, storage spaces and teachers offices.
As listed in a previous post, all materials are environmentally friendly from the Resene paints and allergy/asthma free carpets to the Kingspan insulated panels. For more specific details on the materials used just scroll down a few posts and check out what we used.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Week Five - Torquay Primary School Site Visit
So today after much lack of sleep scrambling to get the first project done on time, we were given the brief to the next project. As a group we are to design a masterplan for a senior school to be located on the current Surfcoast Shire Council offices, next to the new Torquay Primary School which is currently having the blocks for years 7-9 constructed. Only 2 weeks to have this large task completed so today we had a site visit to the school and offices to get an understanding of both the site and its location in relation to the hub of Torquay.
I took a few photos of the school so i'm posting them here even though no doubt they look exactly the same as everyone else's who had a camera with them!
So we were able to get a bit of an understanding as to how the spaces within the surfcoast school operated and through innterviews with some of the school's grade sixes, we could discover what aspects required improvements, what aspects were fine and what crazy ideas the kids had for completely new additions to their schools!
Hope these pictures are helpful for anyone who didn't take any. Have fun designing!!!
I took a few photos of the school so i'm posting them here even though no doubt they look exactly the same as everyone else's who had a camera with them!
So we were able to get a bit of an understanding as to how the spaces within the surfcoast school operated and through innterviews with some of the school's grade sixes, we could discover what aspects required improvements, what aspects were fine and what crazy ideas the kids had for completely new additions to their schools!
Hope these pictures are helpful for anyone who didn't take any. Have fun designing!!!
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