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Cape Town - dhk architects have been instrumental in the design of a new educational facility at the Intaka Island Visitors Centre in Century City that officially opened on Monday.
The brief was to design a 50 square metre “living” energy classroom for visiting school groups that will demonstrate sustainability within the built environment and how man and his structures can co-exist within a sustainable context of responsible environmental practices.
The aim is for the building itself to become an educational tool.
Just some of the sustainable architectural considerations visible in the design of the building design are, inter-alia, the following:
Orientation of the building:
All the glazing is south facing and exposes the building to softer light and reduced solar heat gain. The northern edge is solid with a green wall exterior.
Construction methods:
Polystyrene blocks were used in the construction of the wall as well as in the flat concrete roof construction.
To build the external walls the polystyrene blocks were stacked in a staggered and interlocking pattern – very similar in the manner to which Lego blocks work.
These hollow blocks then act as permanent shuttering to the reinforced concrete infill, while at the same time providing the necessary insulation.
For the roof, the polystyrene system works in the same manner a conventional concrete “rib and block” systems.
The “rib and block” system provides permanent shuttering to the in-situ cast concrete roof.
Once again providing insulation to the roof area. On construction of the wall frameworks, the walls are finished with sand, cement plaster and then painted.
Green wall:
The green wall on the northern edge of the classroom is a vertical garden that softens the North facing wall and will be irrigated using grey water.
Ventilation:
Natural ventilation is encouraged via low level inlets and high level outlets on opposite sides of the classroom.
Solar roof panels:
Additional electricity is generated from the photo voltaic panels mounted on the roof and is in-turn used to power the learning centre
Rain water:
Rain water run-off from the building is collected and re-used or fed back into the Intaka Wetland waterways.
According to Peter Stokes, director at dhk architects, “this small pro-bono project provided an opportunity for dhk to help Intaka Island realise this much needed classroom facility, and highlight the range of environmental principles that dhk seek to employ where possible across a number of our larger commercial projects, contributing to greater environmental awareness and resource efficiency.”
The brief was to design a 50 square metre “living” energy classroom for visiting school groups that will demonstrate sustainability within the built environment and how man and his structures can co-exist within a sustainable context of responsible environmental practices.
The aim is for the building itself to become an educational tool.
Just some of the sustainable architectural considerations visible in the design of the building design are, inter-alia, the following:
Orientation of the building:
All the glazing is south facing and exposes the building to softer light and reduced solar heat gain. The northern edge is solid with a green wall exterior.
Construction methods:
Polystyrene blocks were used in the construction of the wall as well as in the flat concrete roof construction.
To build the external walls the polystyrene blocks were stacked in a staggered and interlocking pattern – very similar in the manner to which Lego blocks work.
These hollow blocks then act as permanent shuttering to the reinforced concrete infill, while at the same time providing the necessary insulation.
For the roof, the polystyrene system works in the same manner a conventional concrete “rib and block” systems.
The “rib and block” system provides permanent shuttering to the in-situ cast concrete roof.
Once again providing insulation to the roof area. On construction of the wall frameworks, the walls are finished with sand, cement plaster and then painted.
Green wall:
The green wall on the northern edge of the classroom is a vertical garden that softens the North facing wall and will be irrigated using grey water.
Ventilation:
Natural ventilation is encouraged via low level inlets and high level outlets on opposite sides of the classroom.
Solar roof panels:
Additional electricity is generated from the photo voltaic panels mounted on the roof and is in-turn used to power the learning centre
Rain water:
Rain water run-off from the building is collected and re-used or fed back into the Intaka Wetland waterways.
According to Peter Stokes, director at dhk architects, “this small pro-bono project provided an opportunity for dhk to help Intaka Island realise this much needed classroom facility, and highlight the range of environmental principles that dhk seek to employ where possible across a number of our larger commercial projects, contributing to greater environmental awareness and resource efficiency.”
