Big Picture Thinking

ESD is not just about individual buildings, but it should look at the bigger picture. Caroline Munro reports on an education project that does just that.

One of the biggest issues facing the architectural profession is the redundancy of existing building stock, says BVN Architecture principal Bill Dowzer.

Many buildings now facing demolition are only 20 years old. “That has got to raise a whole lot of questions about how you design buildings for longevity into the future,” he says.

Dowzer admits that in many quarters it is considered easier to knock something down and start over again, but exciting refurbishments of older buildings incorporating the latest green technology and social design solutions are becoming more common.

Yet when it comes to ESD, implementing innovative green technology is just one step and earning a Green Star or NABERS rating is just the beginning. For Dowzer, the next phase of ESD is more about longevity – creating buildings that can not only adapt to change, but provide the infrastructure to enhance the lifespan of the buildings around them.

In an environment where the way people work, teach, learn ad engage with one another is changing constantly, many buildings and their infrastructure are in danger of becoming redundant. This particularly evident in schools, where the traditional classroom is often no longer flexible enough to enable modern methods of teaching and learning, says Dowzer.

BVN currently has a number of school clients who are facing this very dilemma.

Ravenswood School for Girls on Sydney’s North Shore was one of them, but its recently completed library has breathed new life into the older buildings surrounding it. Before the learning hub (as it is called) was constructed, there was no real entrance to the campus and the school was still lacking infrastructure, such as lifts. Now, the library serves as the linchpin, linking existing buildings and contributing to their longer term sustainability, says Dowzer.

He believes in the near future buildings will no longer be designed in isolation, but will form part of a campus or precinct master plan, sharing infrastructure and delivering much more sustainable solutions. These buildings will also be flexible, their spaces adaptable to changing needs over time. Ravenswood’s learning hub could be considered a scaled example of how that can be achieved.

“It’s not just about a new building,” he says. It’s actually about giving the site longevity by providing the infrastructure that’s going to let the site function with a longer lifespan than it may well have had.”
ESD principals were at the forefront of its design and the building had some clever and cost effective solutions, which have brought down the school’s operating costs significantly. Its water collection facility is used to water the surrounding landscape and flush the toilets, and the façade maximizes the use of natural light. It is a mixed-mode building, in that it is fully ventilated throughout the year while technology takes care of more extreme weather conditions.

“This radically reduces operating costs and during 80 to 90 percent of the school year the building is naturally ventilated,” Dowzer explains.

Yet it is the social infrastructure aspect of the building that most excited Dowzer. For example, Ravenswood’s learning hub has very few walls so the building can be changed depending on how the spaces will be utilized over time.

Externally, the building also solves some issues on the site, linking the existing buildings and providing a true entrance to the campus. Its roof doubles as a grandstand for sporting activities and the building itself has created additional sheltered areas below. Its café – a modern take on the old tuck-shop – actually invites the community in as parents are encouraged to have a coffee when they drop off or pick up their children.

Embracing the community and sharing infrastructure will push the development of green precincts and campuses as opposed to green buildings, Dowzer believes. Across Australia, building owners are recognizing the positive benefits and economies of scale of green initiatives and are keen to showcase them, he says.

“They’re not doing it in a way that is showing off. It’s actually inclusive, bringing people in and letting them share in the education process around the sustainability of the building.”

This was an important consideration in the design of Ravenswood’s library, he adds.

“We utilized the sustainability initiatives as an education tool. These are a series of screens when you come into the new learning hub that monitors the energy use of the building as well as the water collection on site.”

Dowzer admits that there may be some apathy towards green initiatives in some quarters, but a number of BVN’s clients have been real innovators themselves, he says, keen to share their ideas and excited to showcase the sustainability initiatives they have implemented.

A more social approach to ESD is already resulting in sustainable infrastructure on a grander scale, Dowzer notes.
“The generation of power or water retention and all of those sorts of initiatives are much stronger when they are done at a campus or city level than an individual building,” he says.

For example, Sydney is encouraging sewer mining to provide recycled water across the city, and the infrastructure for Melbourne’s Docklands is being designed for entire precincts, shared by individual developments. This shift in thinking is happening at all levels, including residential, Dowzer says.

“When people move into residential areas, more frequently they are buying into communities rather than buying into a building,” says Dowzer. “It’s absolutely happening and the future lies very much in how you share and how you bring things together to be able to get maximum benefit.”