health and happiness , materials , equity and beauty . The essence of a living building is a regenerative building that connects the occupants to food , nature , and community . It must be self-sufficient and stay within its local and site resources but most importantly it must have a positive impact on the humans and nature that it interacts with .
The material choice of the architecture has been driven by the LBC principles and informed by tradition , natural building materials and methodologies . The site is in a river valley and the naturally occurring rounded river stones are used as gabion walls , dry packed ‘ werf ’ walls , storm water swales , building cladding and paving . Locally sourced natural stone has been cut into slabs that are used as basins . Rammed earth walls are constructed from the clay rich soil found on site . Where traditional clay bricks are used , the mortar is made from local lime and sand .
Photovoltaic panels provide electricity . Design strategies like natural ventilations , thermal mass , maximum daylighting and orientation ensure a very low energy demand from all the buildings . The Thermally Activated Building System ( TABS ) is a combined heating and cooling system with pipes embedded in the earth floors that will be used to control the building climate in the extreme winter and summer conditions . The heat generated from microbial breakdown of organic material in the compost heaps for the permaculture gardens will be used to heat up the TABS system in winter .
Borehole water supplies the school with drinking water . All the rainwater is captured in dams and storage facilities to provide irrigation for the edible landscaping . The wastewater is treated on site in such a way that the byproducts can be reintroduced into the water system .
Organic leaf-like roofs , that follow biophilic design principles , catch rainwater which is then stored in rainwater storage facilities .
The Green School is a true living building and serves as an example of how an educational facility can offer children an organic and sustainable learning environment that engages all the senses and encourages holistic education .
Architect : GASS Architecture Studios Quantity Surveyor : AECOM Civil , Electrical & Solar Engineer : Frame Consulting Engineers Structural Engineer : Sutherland Fire Engineer : AECOM Traffic Engineer : ITS Engineers Acoustic Consultant : Linspace Sustainable Design Consultant : Terramanzi Group Comfort Engineer : Climetric Feng Shui Consultant : Andrew Graham Interior Design : D12 Interiors Land Surveyor : Bruwer Opmeter Landscape Architect : DDS Projects Main Contractor : Energy Master Builders
SAPOA Awards 67