Thursday, October 23, 2008

FINAL SUBMISSION

After some useful advice and suggestion from the pros, the library has been updated and the ESD principles included have been tweaked to better suit the climate and situation. Below is the finished presentation of the Torquay Senior School Library!

CAD it up!!

After working on and developing the concept sketches for the library i began to build a CAD model to get a better perswpective of how the building was developing. these CAD drawings were also a minimum requirement for the masterclass in which design professionals would provide feedback on our designs and ESD principles.



Development Continues

After the consultation, this is a new floor plan design which i came up with which is more suitable to a modern school.

P3 Library

After a consultation in the studio, it was the decided that the library i was designing so far was the typical library which i went to school in and not a library which was designed for 2020. With technology being a huge factor in schools and nearly every student working off laptops, with wireless technology, providing computers in a library was no longer necessary. With this in mind, the building has been shrunk and altered so that it is a more modern design. The spacial requirments now are:

  • Books / collection
  • Librarian
  • Teaching Space
  • Breakout spaces
  • Cafe / gallery space
  • Bathrooms
Schools now prefer to be more flexible so that rooms can be used for various activities. Hopefully the future design will reflect this and be a more modern design.

Project 3 Continues

Development of the initial sketches continued this week with more of the floor plan being experimented with to produce a layout.



Project 3 Torquay Library

After last weeks initial concepts sketches, the design has been further developed with slightly more detail and sections.

Project 3 - Library Initial Stages

Ultimately the function of a library is to be a place to source information however, social trends are changing especially in schools and the library is no longer seen as a place of quiet but rather networking and socialising. The following is a list of spacial requirements which should be incorporated into the library.

  • Quiet reading area
  • private study
  • group work
  • computers
  • librarian office
  • book / collection
  • social / networking
  • newspaper / magazine
  • catalogue computers
  • storage
  • bathroom
After addressing these spacial requirements, some concept sketches were drawn up.

Project 3 Begins

After the completion of the master plan, we chose a building each to design to make up the school community. The buildings which the group members choose were:

  • Me - Library
  • David - Administration
  • DangDang - Theatre and music room
  • Ping - general classroms and science labs
  • Andrew - design tech and art room.
Our aim as a group is to design a group of building which fit together in the scheme of the school as well as being usable and sustainable.

Monday, September 15, 2008

Project 2 Master Plan

After conducting a site analysis, as a group we went about producing a master plan for the proposed school on the Torquay site.

First up we did a spacial diagram to try to gain an understanding of what building srelate with each other and as a result, should connect with each other.




From here we were able to produce our master plan for the proposed year 10 - 12 high school.


As part of our master plan response, we tried to resolve the traffic build up on Grossmans Rd by making the current site entry into a bus drop off zone only and we provided car parking and a student drop off zone on the side of the site with an access road on the private land.

from here we positioned the buildings. We located the cafe and design technology centre near the bus drop off and car park so that supplies can be delivered easily.

We wanted to keep the library central as this is a space that the whole school will require access to and it is often used during the lunch break. We also wanted to allow space around it so it could be utilised as an outdoor space.

The performing arts theatre and music room were positioned to the west of the site and within close proximity of the car par. The reasons for this is that firstly, these are lounder areas and we wanted them to be separated from the general classroom areas and secondly, these areas can be utilised by the community outside of school hours and this location will prevent the community having to walk through the school.

After much discussion, it was decided to locate the gym on the south side of the site so that it links up with the basketball courts and oval of Torquay College.

Project 2 Site Analysis

After visits to the site and talking with some of the locals in the Torquay community, we produced a site analysis and master plan for the proposed high school. In addition, with no group members being from Victoria, we also looked at the history and culture of Torquay to help gain a better understanding of what design in the region should represent.

First up we looked at the history of the site and the culture of Torquay.


We also researched into the climatic region which Torquay is in and the annual temperatures and rain fall. This sheet also contained the design brief which the group produced at the end of the project. The brief narrows down the project requirements and outline what the group wants to achieve from the school.



We did a graphical response showing the views from the site.

This image shows how we also researched into the site location in regards to where it is situated in Torquay.


Also we researched into the urban growth of Torquay and future areas planned for development which could impact on the schools growth.

This is to represent current traffic flow on a large scale showing all access to the current site.


This poster showed the impact of climatic conditions. It represents the contours of the site, water runoff, sun direction and current access points.


The next two posters represent our groups research on the affects of the high winds. With the site being quite flat, there are some areas in the open space which are extremely effected by the high winds. The areas on the poster which are shaded in blue were two areas which were extremely windy.


Project 2 Second Site Visit

To gain a better understanding of how the site responded to climatic changes, we returned to the site on a cold, windy, wet day to see how these conditions would affect the proposed school.





While we were in Torquay, we did a quick drive around the town and stopped at the beach to help determine the culture of the city.


Project 2 Site Map

Here is a copy of the site map and a satellite photo showing the context of the site.



Project 2

For project 2, my group group 20 and group 25 have merged.The photo below shows the team members.

(Ping, Me, Andrew, Dang and Dave)

Project 2 requires the group to create a master plan for a senior school catering for year 10 - 12 students at a designated site in Torquay. This site will be located on the council land next to the current Torquay school. The first part of the project was to visit Torquay school to gain an understanding of how a school operates and the necessary requirements for the school to function effectively. Torquay school believes in being a sustainable design and the design tries to reflect this.










After a quick tour of the school we visited the site to gain an understanding of the surrounding buildings, situation of the site and the climatic factors which need to be considered.






Thursday, September 4, 2008

Final Design

Here is the finished floor plan of our relocatable classroom and the site model representing how the buildings fit together on site .


This design works by having each individual module constructed off site and delivered to site. Each standard classroom is made up of seven modules however, the design is flexible so that the class can be increased or decreased depending on student numbers.



The modules are designed to enable them to be relocated on a standard five axle semi trailer. This type of truck enables 8 modules to fit on the trailer which means it can carry an entire standard classroom. Also this truck can be used on the roads without any special permits which mean the classroom can be transported quick and easily.


When the modules are delivered to site, they are simply fitted together and fixed in place.


The aspects of R.A.R.E. Architecture where an integral part of this relocatable school. From the site plan below, it can be seen that the buildings are orientated with the classroom areas facing north to allow the winter sun to warm the classroom naturally.

The image below also shows how the screening of windows was used to enable the winter sun to penetrate the building but keep the winter sun out.



With the current water crisis, we devised ways to store and reuse water. This was done by capturing rain water that lands on the roof of the classroom and storing it in tanks under the flooring system.
For the heating system we used solar hydronic. We decided to use solar hydronic as it is one of the most energy efficient and effective methods available.



We also included solar power to help power various requirements of a classroom such as computers and lighting when required.