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!!!

Design - Connection Techniques

My last post looked at the materials our group are looking at for our design. As the proposal needs to be relocatable, both efficiency and ease of building and rebuilding is a major impact on the design. As materials can be bought pre-fab, the issue is not in constructing the planes, but joining them together and so the connection techniques used much be carefully chosen.

So this post is research into various connection methods that preferably require little to no tools and man hours. Even though they might not necessarily be for materials that our group is using, it is still worth looking at innovative ways to connect various materials.

So here is a few connection techniques i found i thought worth posting:

- Beamlock (http://www.benfieldatt.co.uk/timber_frame_products/benfield_att_
house_extensions/beamlock_system_for_garages_and_car_ports/
building_with_beamlock)

Installation Advantages

Two people can easily build a Beamlock structure with minimal tools and skills. Simple assembly means that you will benefit from the unique time saving design reducing timberframe build times and labour costs.

- Zipblocks

Fun with Lego! An interesting yet possibly time consuming method but does allow for adaptability from school to school.

Design - Chosen Materials

Hey everyone. Well the Product News magazines came out over the last week and we picked out and further researched the materials and products that we thought were ideal for this project. That being environmental or adaptable etc etc...

So the materials are -:

- USG Powerscape Health wall and ceiling linings: (http://www.powerscape.com.au/health.asp)

- Impact toughness of masonry
- Fire protection and wet area capacity of specialty plasterboard
- Design and installation convenience of standard plasterboard
- Comprise of 95% recycled materials and are 100% re-usable






- Urbanline Euro Selekta Cladding

- Durable, safe and eco-friendly
- Requires no maintanence
- No nails, screws or glues required
- Can be installed horizontally, vertically or diagonally


- Karndean Flotex Allergy Free Carpet: (http://www.infolink.com.au/c/Karndean-International/
Karndean-Flotex-floors-the-air-pollution-solution-n761040)

- Caries the Sensitive Choice butterfly symbol
- Traps allergens, reducing risk of allergic reactions
- Significantly reduces affects of asthma via carpet
- High durability and stain resistance


- Makrolon Multiwall Window Film

- Imapct strength 250 that of glass
- 99.9% protection from harmful UV rays
- High heat reflectance rate


- Dulux Armourspray AG Graffiti Resistant Paint: (http://www.duluxpowders.com.au/powd/cda/powd_cda_product/
0,,158,00.html)

- Resists most forms of graffiti
- Speedy removal of graffiti deters re-sprays
- Resistance to scratching, abrasion and UV damage


- Kingspan Insulated Panels

- 'Secret-fix' option removes visible joins
- Arrive cut-to-size reducing on-site installation time and costs
- Purpose designed high insulation exterior wall cladding
- Large span capabilities reducing in fewer purlins



- Fujitsu Energy Efficient Cooling:

- Absorbs dust, mould spores and harmful micro-organisms
- DC motor allows greater air-flow with quieter operation
- Ranges from 5.2kW - 9.7kW
- Automatic airflow adjustments respond to changing room temperatures



- Resene Environmental Paints: (www.resene.com.au)

- Company gained Environmental Choice in 1996
- Contains no heavy metals such as lead
- Highly reduced risk of poisoning to people, animals and the environment


- Tilling Timber Smartjoist I-Joists: (http://www.tilling.com.au/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=34&Itemid=37)

- Cost effective with unsurpassed strength
- Large range of section sizes
- Full range optimises Douglas fir flanges

- Silent Gliss Tess motorized fabric system: (http://www2.silentgliss.com.au/fts/tess100.htm)

This is a heavy duty motorized fabric system that acts much like a blind. Used in place of shade cloths, it can cover an area of 16 square metres. The advantage is that it is retractable and so obviously light can in external spaces can be controlled.