FishergatenurseryTechnology Summer
During the summer months, the north western winds will become slightly warmer than their winter counterparts and therefore, the nursery will need cooling. The skylight will provide some source of natural ventilation. However because of the use of the glass facade, there will be sufficient ventilation . winter
This model was a quick visualisation of how I think the children could use the walls as sleeper units or seats. Varying in scale for adults and kids, these could be indoor or outdoor.
These pipes were arranged so that rainfall could become a feature. With the vibrant and bright contrast in colour, the children could watch the rain gather and then shoot down the pipes. Maybe used as a water collection unit for the external walls.
During the winter will probably be the harshest times for the nursery, due to the site getting a cold wind in the north easterly direction. To help heat the main play space, which will be occupied the majority of the time, I have included the use of under floor heating as one of the warming components in the building. Another technology that I wish to apply to my design is the use of a Trombe wall, at each side of the greenhouse. The greenhouse itself will act as a catalyst for generating heat in the winter months. But also provide cooling within the summer months. The walls themselves are a heavy concrete mass, but with a added finish of a black surface and a glass facade on the wall, it creates the Trombe wall. Warm air enters building For the structure of my design I wanted to use natural materials, as I found in my precedent work, the children seem to be more relaxed and provides a cleaner environment for them. Following this through, I wanted my model to help represent my structure. Because of the curved feature of my roof, the building consists of 9 arches. 5 covering the main portion of the nursery and 4 covering the public space.
Heavy Mass (concrete)
Cool air ventilated
Greenhouse will act as a catalyst, heating up the glass panel more efficiently, therefore heating the building more efficiently. There was an initial problem with the location of the green house and the amount of sunlight that it would get during the winter months. However, of a late afternoon and night time, the green house is in contact with the sunlight, therefore the Trombe wall mass will store the energy and generate partial heat for the building.
In reality, the beams would be glue-lam timber frames. Prefabricated off site, the glue lam beams will be held up by the central wall. In between each beam will consist of timber struts, each at 1 metre intervals along the beams. As I have mentioned earlier, some of these walls are structural and key to the building. The central 6m high wall will consist of a concrete mass but have a timber cladding. The wall holds up all 9 beams but also holds a number of activities, inside and outside. I wanted the central wall to relate to both the inside and outside spaces. Each having their own individual needs, the inside will need to be scaled to meet the children’s needs, but the external will be used to help ensure there is a space for the adults to watch their children playing.
Here was a quick scale model of the slide feature I want to include within the wall facade. The slide is a piece of equipment that all children enjoy and the thrill of going at higher speeds helps give them a small buzz. The slide must be adult accompanied. But the framework also provides a small hiding spot.
One of the final ideas that I had was to have tables that fold out of the facade of the building. These tables could be mounted into the wall and be pulled down to gain use. These would be ideal for during the warm summer months under my external arch, used as a small picnic area while the children play around the facade.