CONTENTS 1- IDEAS 2- DEVELOPMENT 3 - FINAL DESIGN 4- SPACES 5 - MATERIALS 6 - THE ENVIRONMENT 7 - DETAILS 8 - COSTING 9 - A MESSAGE FROM THE GROUP
1IDEAS AFTER VISITING THE PRIMARY SCHOOL, EXPLORING THE PLAYGROUND AND MEETING THE PUPILS WE EACH WENT AWAY AND INDIVIDUALLY CAME UP WITH AN IDEA FOR THE CLASSROOM. THEN, EVERYONE IN THE YEAR VOTED TO CHOOSE THEIR FAVOURITE DESIGN AND WE SELECTED JACK’S. JACK’S INITIAL IDEA WAS TO HAVE A MAIN CLASSROOM SPACE FOR READING AND LESSONS, AND A SERIES OF SMALL SEATING BAYS FANNING OUT FROM IT, WHICH COULD BE USED FOR INDIVIDUAL OR GROUP WORK.
2DEVELOPMENT AS A GROUP WE WORKED WITH THIS DESIGN IDEA AND DEVELOPED IT. WE MADE LOTS OF MODELS TO TEST OUT DIFFERENT WAYS OF ARRANGING THE SPACE AND USING THE STRUCTURE. WE ALSO DREW THE CLASSROOM ON THE GROUND IN LIFE SIZE, TOO SEE HOW MANY PEOPLE COULD COMFORTABLY SIT IN IT, AND GET A FEEL FOR THE SPACES. WITH EXPERIMENTS LIKE THESE WE WERE ABLE TO LEARN WHERE WE WERE RIGHT AND WHERE WE WERE GOING WRONG, IN ORDER TO MAKE THE DESIGN BETTER.
ONE OF THE MAIN PROBLEMS WE ENCOUNTERED WAS HOW TO MAKE AN EFFECTIVE STRUCTURE. THIS WAS DIFFICULT BECAUSE THE SHAPE OF THE BUIDING IS QUITE UNUSUAL, SO WE HAD TO DO A LOT OF EXPERIMENTS TO MAKE IT WORK. WE WANTED THE STRUCTURE TO FAN OUT FROM A SINGLE POINT, TO REINFORCE THE IDEA OF THE SPACES SPREADING OUT FROM A SINGLE POINT, LIKE A WING. WE SPENT SOME TIME IN THE WOOD-WORK-SHOP TRYING TO UNDERSTAND AND PERFECT THIS IDEA.
3FINAL DESIGN THE FINAL PLAN WE SETTLED UPON IS A DIRECT DEVELOPMENT OF JACK’S ORIGINAL CONCEPT. WE MADE CHANGES TO MATERIALS, AS WELL AS THE INTERNAL WALLS, WHICH IN THE FINAL DESIGN HAVE BECOME LIGHT, MOVABLE PANELS IN ORDER TO OPEN AND CLOSE DIFFERENT SPACES. THE WALL FACING THE BACK OF THE PLAYGROUND HAS ALSO BEEN REMOVED, ALLOWING FREE MOVEMENT BETWEEN THE CLASSROOM AND THE COURTYARD SPACE ENCLOSED BEHIND IT.
4SPACES THE DESIGN CREATES THREE DISTINCT SPACES. THE SQUARE SPACE TO THE FRONT OF THE CLASSROOM WOULD BE IDEAL FOR ACTIVITIES SITTING ON THE CARPET SUCH AS READING AND CIRCLE TIME. THE BEAMS IN THE CEILING AND THE LINES OF THE SLIDING WALLS ALL POINT TOWARDS THE CORNER OF THIS SQUARE, MAKING THIS THE FOCAL POINT, AND AN IDEAL PLACE FOR THE TEACHER TO STAND WHEN HOLDING TEACHER-LED LESSONS IN THE CLASSROOM.
THE SMALLER BAYS WHICH FAN OFF THE MAIN SPACE ARE SUITED FOR USE BY SMALLER GROUPS OR CHILDREN WORKING INDEPENDENTLY, FOR EXAMPLE ON DRAWINGS, STORIES OR PERSONAL REFLECTIVE WORK. THE OPENINGS TO THE PLAYGROUND GIVE A SENSE OF FREEDOM WHICH WOULD AID IMAGINATIVE WORK. THE SLIDING WALLS CAN ALSO BE PUSHED BACK, OPENING THE INDIVIIDUAL SEATING BAYS INTO ROWS OF SEATING, FACING ONTO THE COURTYARD, IDEAL FOR DRAMA REHEARSALS, GROUP TALKS OR SHOW AND TELL.
THE NEW BUILDING ALSO HELPS DEFINE THE “COURTYARD” SPACE TO THE BACK OF THE MAIN PLAYGROUND, THE OPEN FRONT TO THE OUTDOOR CLASSROOM ALLOWS CHILDREN TO SPILL OUT INTO THE COURTYARD IN SUNNY WEATHER, ENGAGING THEM WITH THE OUTDOORS IN A NEW WAY. THE CLASSROOM ALSO IMPLIES A BARRIER BETWEEN THE YOUNGER AND OLDER PLAYGROUNDS - AND COULD BE USED AS A QUIET HALFWAY POINT WHERE THE TWO AGE GROUPS COULD INTERACT.
5MATERIALS THE BRIEF GIVEN TO US BY THE UNIVERSITY STATED THAT THE MAIN STRUCTURE OF THE CLASSROOM SHOULD BE MADE OUT OF TIMBER. FOR THE MAIN STRUCTURE WE CHOSE LARCH. LARCH IS A HARD WEARING YELLOW COLOURED WOOD, WHICH WEATHERS TO AN ATTRACTIVE GREY COLOUR AND IS LARGELY RESISTANT TO ROT. IT IS TRADITIONALLY USED IN SHIP BUILDING BECAUSE OF THIS QUALITY. THE UPRIGHT POSTS, BEAMS AND RAFTERS WILL BE MADE FROM LARCH WOOD.
BECAUSE WE WANTED THE WALL PLANES AND SLIDING PANELS TO FEEL LIGHT AND UNRESTRICTIVE, WE CHOSE SIMPLE BIRCHFACED PLYWOOD PANELS. THESE PANELS ARE VERY CHEAP AND THEIR SIMPLICITY LENDS THEM AN ACCESSIBLE, RECOGNISABLE QUALITY TO CHILDREN. EXTERNALLY THESE PANELS WOULD BE CLAD IN THIN LARCH SLATS TO ENSURE THE PLYWOOD WOULD NOT GET WET. FOR THE FLOORING WE CHOSE CORK, AS IT IS NATURAL, SOFT AND COMFORTABLE FOR CHILDREN TO SIT ON.
BECAUSE THE ROOF IS A KEY FEATURE OF THE DESIGN, HOVERING AS A HEAVY MASS ABOVE THE LIGHTER, MOVABLE WALLS OF THE CLASSROOM, WE WANTED TO DEFINE IT IN CONTRASTING MATERIALS. FOR IT’S DURABLE AND WATERPROOF QUALITIES WE SELECTED CORRUGATED TIN SHEETS. THESE HAVE A SIMPLE, INDUSTRIAL APPEARANCE WHICH TIES IN WITH THE HISTORY OF LADYBANK AS AN AGRICULTURAL AND INDUSTRIAL AREA. THEY ALSO REFLECT LIGHT, CREATING AN INTERESTING FOCAL POINT.
6THE ENVIRONMENT WE WANTED TO SOURCE AS MUCH OF THE MATERIALS AS POSSIBLE FROM THE LOCAL AREA, IN ORDER TO CUT CO2 EMISSIONS AS WELL AS SUPPORT SCOTTISH INDUSTRY. SCOTTISH LARCH CAN BE SOURCED FROM AS NEARBY AS DUNFERMLINE AND IS ALWAYS SUSTAINABLY GROWN AND REPLANTED, PROTECTING HABITATS. PLYWOOD IS MORE DIFFICULT TO SOURCE FROM SCOTLAND. MOST PLYWOOD COMES FROM SOUTH AMERICA OR SCANDINAVIA, BUT IS STILL SUSTAINABLE AS LONG AS IT IS CERTIFIED BY THE FOREST STEWARDSHIP COUNCIL (FSC)
7DETAILS SHOWN IS THE DETAIL OF THE JOINTING AND FOOTINGS WHERE THE WALLS, POSTS AND SLIDING WALLS MEET THE FLOOR PLANE. THE SLIDING WALLS ARE EASILY MANOEUVRABLE, THIN PLYWOOD PANELS WHICH RUN ON PLASTIC ROLLERS. THE ROLLING MECHANISM IS GUARDED BEHIND A STEEL COVER TO PREVENT CHILDREN GETTING THEIR FINGERS TRAPPED UNDER THE ROLLERS. THE WALLS CAN BE SLID BACK TO OPEN UP THE SEATING AREA.
SHOWN IS THE DETAIL OF THE JOINTING WHERE THE PLYWOOD WALLS AND LARCH POSTS MEET THE BEAMS AND JOISTS OF THE ROOF STRUCTURE. GUTTERING RUNS ALONG THE BASE OF EACH INDIVIDUAL PITCHED ROOF PREVENTING RAIN WATER DRIPPING THROUGH THE OPENINGS INTO THE CLASSROOM. THESE GUTTERS COLLECT IN AN ALUMINIUM SPLASH BASIN AT THE SOUTH EAST CORNER OF THE BUILDING. THE CORRUGATED TIN ROOF ALLOWS RAIN WATER TO RUN SMOOTHLY DOWN ITS GROOVES AND INTO THE GUTTERS.
THE POINT WHERE THE 3 MAIN BEAMS SUPPORTING THE ROOFS MEET WAS A DIFFICULT PROBLEM TO OVERCOME. WE COULDN’T FIND ANY EXAMPLES OF A SIMILAR JOINT WHICH WE COULD LEARN FROM, SO WE HAD TO COME UP WITH OUR OWN METHOD. WE DEVISED A SYSTEM OF INTERLOCKING THE BEAMS BY CUTTING NOTCHES OUT OF THE TOPS AND BOTTOMS OF THEM. THE DETAILS OF THESE NOTCHES IS PICTURED.
THE THREE INTERLOCKING BEAMS SLOT INTO THE MAIN STRUCTURAL POST IN THE SOUTH EAST CORNER OF THE BUILDING. THE WEIGHT OF THE ROOF STRUCTURE IS TRANSFERED THROUGH THE BEAMS INTO THIS POST, SO WE DECIDED TO MAKE IT THICKER TO DEMONSTRATE ITS IMPORTANCE TO THE STRUCTURE. ANGLED NOTCHES ARE CUT OUT OF THE TOP OF THIS POST FOR THE THREE BEAMS TO SLOT INTO. TWO PERPENDICULAR BEAMS ALSO SLOT INTO THE SIDES, LOWER DOWN THE POST, USING SIMPLE MORTISE AND TENON JOINTS.
8COSTING WE HAVE LOOKED AT A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT SUPPLIERS IN THE LOCAL AREA IN ORDER TO GET A ROUGH IDEA OF THE COST OF MATERIALS FOR THE BUILDING. THESE PRICES ARE ROUGH GUIDES BASED ON THE COST OF MATERIALS FROM THE SUPPLIERS WE LOOKED INTO. AS WE FOCUSSED PRIMARILY ON FINDING LOCAL AND SUSTAINABLE TIMBER, LOWER COST TIMBER COULD PROBABLY BE SOURCED FROM ELSEWHERE IN THE UK OR EUROPE IF THIS WAS PREFERRED.
9A MESSAGE FROM THE GROUP WE WOULD LIKE TO THANK YOU FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO WORK ON THIS PROJECT. AS ARCHITECTURE STUDENTS THIS IS THE FIRST TIME WE’VE HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO WORK WITH A REAL CLIENT, ATTEMPTING TO MEET REAL REQUIREMENTS. WE’VE ALL LEARNT SO MUCH, AND HAVE REALLY ENJOYED WORKING WITH YOU.
JACK HELMN, KIRSTEN PONT, LEWIS PRENTY, JONNY LOWES, ALEX MACDONALD, PATRICK DAVIES, ROWAN CARMICHAEL, RUMENA TENDAFILOVA, MELVIN EZENWA, DAVID MCPHEAT, FAYE TONG, RUI WANG.