Buildings For The 21St Century

In February 2011 Ormiston Senior College welcomed its first Year 11 students to a new year in a stunning
new facility designed to meet the needs of teaching and learning in the 21st century. The building surrounds a courtyard and provides a variety of spatial options, from large open plan flexible areas, to more
conventional class sized rooms and then to smaller meeting or study areas. The courtyard design provides shelter, security and a ‘heart’ to the school. All spaces enjoy close proximity and views to the exterior.

The design-build contract by Fletcher Construction, working with Jasmax Architects and WSP New Zealand Ltd, has delivered the first NZ Green Building Council 5 Star school in New Zealand, making this
building an impressive benchmark for the future. The Ormiston Senior College has been awarded the IPENZ Arthur Mead Award, presented annually to a project that best addresses sustainability and potential adverse environmental effects.

While the green field site had advantages to optimise the space, it came with the problem of airborne noise from aircraft on the Auckland International Airport flight path and a busy roadway. To deliver a well ventilated, quiet learning environment with natural light and reduced energy use to achieve the 5 star rating, attention was focussed on minimising the glazing, screening mid-day sun and using passive ventilation in a way that enabled noise attenuation with no openings.

The design solution used Monodraught Ventilators which work on an air pressure differential principle to generate airflow both into and out of the building space and provide noise attenuation within the shaft. The height and number of the ventilators meant that they became a design feature of the building, and were positioned to align aesthetically. Each vent has a photovoltaic cell to run a small fan to boost airflow when required. The ventilation design qualified for an innovation credit point in the 5 Star rating, and the use of 87 of these ventilators made this project the third largest in the world using this type of ventilation.

The ventilators were best accommodated within the Dimond BB900 roof profile and a flashing system, developed jointly with the roofing contractor Paton Roofing, has enabled a pleasing and weather secure roof solution. Olsen Gascoigne, Site Manager for Paton Roofing, included a concealed system in the wide
flashing assembly to deal with any condensation issues. The roof material is ColorCote®ZRXTM in a mixture of Titania and Ironsand colours to give a stunning appearance against the blue and green colours of the landscape.

The resulting building, and the attention to detail, is a credit to the design and construction and stands as a state-of-the-art school building to be enjoyed by teachers, their students and the local community. It also serves the wider building industry as a benchmark for sustainability in the New Zealand built environment.

Jasmax

Jasmax is a major New Zealand architectural, interiors and landscape design practice, with nearly 200 staff based in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch and with representation in Tauranga.

The Jasmax philosophy is that architecture and design can inspire the spirit, turning the everyday and ordinary into truly memorable experiences. They have been doing this for over 40 years - designing and creating exceptional spatial experiences that benefits end users.

Over this period the company has gained an impressive reputation, both here and overseas, for inspirational, award winning architecture by listening to clients and their particular needs and offering solutions based on a wealth of experience.