Inspiration Centre – Agpodesigns

Dissertation Project: Inspiration Centre

Date of the project: 2021-2022

Client Brief

Children/Adult Inspiration centre

It is a center that is based around children skill education involving hobbies. While children are engaging in their loved activities they are being educated on sustainability, global warming, connection with nature, energy efficiency and much more. The whole building is based around these priorities being embodied carbon and biofilic design that involves people connection with nature.

Most of the children education will be based during the afternoon/after/school. Meanwhile, in the mornings there will be adult classes for different skills, new hobbies and most importantly gardening. During weekends some spaces (like the main concert hall) can be rented for community events, conferences, fairs and etc. It will be based in the middle of Castle Park, facing the south side with greenhouse, most likely 3-4 levels, with views to the canal. Children age going up the levels (GF – 6 years+, 2F – 14 years+)

The building should be the embodiment of connection with nature and/or low embodied carbon materials. Renewable materials or “smart” design decisions made to improve energy efficiency in the building.

Children should be separated moderately from the public, so it does not cause safety issues.

It should be a building which can be used to educate children as well as adults about plants, how to harvest, seed, take care and preserve them. Greenhouse could be used for tourists but most importantly children and adults that are interested.

Environmental Study: Castle Park

Reasoning Behind Location

Portraying summer and winter sun study in correlation with the site and yearly winter study in order to understand and choose design features that are in consideration with environmental aspects of the site and make the best use of them or mitigate possible
risks.

Site on Castle park was chosen based on research involving noise, safety, accessibility, nature study, tree placement and views that open from the designed building. Safety towards children in need of the building and parent accessibility to the site. In consideration with a Castle Park problem: alarming location used for illegal activities and high probability of various background people.

Sun path June 24, 2021
o Dawn: 04.06
o Sunrise: 04.53
o Culmination: 13.12
o Sunset: 21.31
o Dusk: 22.19
Day light duration: 16h 38m
o Altitude: -12.04⁰
o Azimuth: 23.41⁰

Sun path Dec 24,2021
o Dawn: 07.34
o Sunrise: 08.14
o Culmination: 12.10
o Sunset: 16.05
o Dusk: 16.45
Day light duration: 7h 51m
o Altitude: -48.07⁰
o Azimuth: 63.74

Accessibility on Site: Castle Park

Designing a dynamic form building that has different shape layers with an atrium in the middle with biophilic approach – vegetation and human exposure to plants and natural materials. Glulam structure for the main portion of the building and steel frame structure for the greenhouse. Use of green roofs when it is suitable for heating thermal mass and environmental purposes.

Floor Plans and Elevations

Sections "A" and "B"

Primary Structural Diagrams and Model

The Building is made using two separate frames. The reason for separate Glulam and Steel frame, was to prevent cold bridging, ensure airtightness and qualifications for proposed areas in the building.
Steel frame was designed to have perfect conditions for a greenhouse, it did not need insulating or airtightness as moisture is what makes greenhouse environment the best. Glazing allows direct sunlight and solar gains that must be provided in the greenhouse.
Glulam Frame was used for the purposes of low embodied carbon and fire resistancy properties. Glulam frame structure has continuous insulation and membranes for airtightness.
Due to direct wind the structure is exposed to “moving”, two separate frames provide independent movement of both structures that would not damage one another and “co-exist” as a single building.

Construction Details

Building User Diagrams

Children based Areas (7-13): To ensure the
safety of children, the building was design to only have activity area on the left side of the building and use level 0-1, to avoid contact with teen/young adults in terms of healthy environment.

As all of the bathrooms in the building are designed to be unisex except one: Level 1, left side, due to the nature of children curiosity and their safety, were designed to be separate Men and Woman bathrooms.

Mixed use rooms would have a specific schedule to avoid direct contact with one group with
another (that involve children activities).

Public based Areas: Inspiration Centre is all inclusive, providing spaces for community events, concerts, performances, lectures. Theater Hall has the option to use the Green roof which is located in Level 1 of the building with direct staircase access to the stage.

Cafe/Canteen has access from right side of the Centre to allow purchase of beverages and pastries for the public, although it does not give direct access to the building as it is separated.

Public orientated spaces were chosen to be allocated in the north-west side of the building for safety of building users and prevention of interacting with children that are present.

Teen/Adult based Areas (14-65+): As various
age groups can corelate together, it is important to make boundaries that allow intervention in between ages, the areas are designed to be in every storey, either separated in small rooms or interacting in bigger spaces. Most of the Level 2 rooms can be rented out if availability allows it.

Staff based Areas: Has access to all of the rooms
in addition of teaching as well as a staff room in the first floor to relax and interact with other teachers. Office room on Level 2 is occupied by the management of the building: organising, scheduling, maintaining and charity. Utility/Plant Rooms are purposely placed near the entrances to be convenient for maintaining done by external workers.

Materiality

3D Green Roof Balcony Build-up

Primary Structure – Glulam, is exposed in the building or used as a hanged ceiling “offset point” to install all the services (electricity, lighting elements, ventilation ducts and etc.). All the ceilings have an acoustic panels installed in order to manage sound travel in spaces. Above it there is a Vapour Control Barrier installed.

Insulation panel can be prefabricated and delivered to site, elements include:
• 19mm Plywood sheeting board
• 100mm ISOVER 75% glass mineral wool, made with 100% renewable energy, and 125mm x 50mm timber studs
• 125mm ISOVER rigid insulation board, made with 100% renewable energy
• 19mm Plywood sheeting board

Following the panel another ISOVER rigid insulation board is installed, it is cut in an angle to make the falls
with a plywood sheating board on top of it. Breather Membrane is layed on top of plywood to protect insulation elements. Roof finishes are installed on top of that together with sarking felt for water run off to the gutter. 1ooomm x 50mm gravel layer is placed as a filter under 500mm x 500mm recycled concrete tiles. Other component is installable 500mm x 500mm x 100mm M-Tray green roof trays, they can be replaced and reused to it makes the maintenance easy.

M-Tray components:
• 10mm filter to offset it from the roof finishes
• Filter layer
• Tray with vegetation and internal filter

External Wall Build-up

On exposed internally Glulam there is a plasterboard as a finish material place just bellow of on top, just after that it is a ridig isulation block (not for all the walls, depends on an angle) used for services making a various thickness gaps from 50mm to 150mm for services to run through. VPC is then placed on top of insulation panel.

Insulation panel components:
• 19mm Plywood sheating board
• 125mm ISOVER ridig insulation, made with 100% renewable energy) and 125mm x 50mm horizontally placed timber studs
• 100mm ISOVER 75% recycled glass mineral wool insulation (made with 100% renewable energy) and 100mm x 50mm vertical timber studs in between.
• 125mm ISOVER rigid insulation
• 19mm Plywood sheeting board

On the panel there is another continuous 50mm ridig insulation layer to prevent cold bridges. , on the external side of insulation breather membrane is placed. following that 50mm x 30 mm sawn timber studs that make an air gap for ventilation and water run off. Plywood sheeting board is attached to the studs and it holds horizontally placed oak timber cladding (vertically placed on other walls would be chestnut cladding).

Ventilation and Heating Study

Solar Gain and Heating Study

Atrium and greenhouse were designed to have continuous glazing to use solar gains to the best of its extent. Internal atrium planting need sun light to thrive, that the reason why it was placed just like this, no matter if it is winter or summer, plants are made sure they get at least 5 hours of sunlight most of the days in the year.

Heating and Rainwater Study

Mechanical heating is planned to be installed in the ground floor and second floor using heat pump – as it would give the ability to use it to cool the air too. Rainwater collection tanks are places in the front and back of the building – underground and supplies internal atrium planting area with rainwater.
Atrium planting and greenhouse also acts as thermal buffers: for preheating in the winter with evaporation, for cooling in the summer.

Ventilation Solution and Study

Building uses both natural and mechanical ventilation. Natural ventilation through cross-ventilation and using atrium to adopt buoyancy. Atrium has automatic window control system. As it is a commercial building it is important to provide ventilation throughout the year fan coil units are used for mechanical ventilation that has the ventilation ducts installed using hanged ceiling in all of the rooms and spaces that are thermally insulated.