Drawings for the first building workshop starting February 2010 on site

Site plan and some square meter indications.
(click image to enlarge!!)



















Floor plan of the main building and toilette facilities.



















East and west elevations.



















South and north elevations.



















Foundation plan.












DOKA window elements.



















Sections.

Pictures of the working-model

A new lay-out idea

This new layout envisages a clearer structure of all the building units and maintains the court-yard idea as a central, but enclosed patio like setting.















The existing building is flanked by the security room to the south and the new office block and kitchen are again set on the northern side. the two storey library unit is at the top of the court-yard and the lecture room and the hall form the left side of the patio.
The cantilevered roof generates an ideal shady area all around the units and around the patio, which now also has a covered link at the southern end to give a mayor sense to the court-yard.
This has really become my favourite lay-out as it seems to solve all of the aspects that have been elaborated during the first workshop week in Tubatse.

looking forward in many comments from all of you, and pls start a discussion with all the community and staff members !!

Further aspects on structure and roofing

The idea of a big roof to cover the entire structure has come up showing that in this way a more feasyble realisation could be envisaged.
The higher volumes, and double-storey building units will pop up above the roof, thus an interesting lightin and ventilation system can be envisaged


section through the hall:

(click to enlarge images !)












the roof structure is basically held up by a series of gum-poles.



the facade of the hall:






















detail of the setback/raised roof part permitting ventilation and lighting.



elevation of the office units:
















the gum-poles form a series of triangles that create an ideal support for our roof.


3D-sketch of the office roofing structure:
















3D-sketch of the structure for the hall:
















looks very complicated, and I can tell you, have tried to make it not to difficult, but the structure is very simple an will enable us to build the big roof with no difficulty.

Building concept and some technical aspects and questions

The concept for the units for the office and lecturing spaces is based on the idea of creating a unity between the structure of the building (three sides sand-bag-walls) and the more open front and the roofing structure. In this way, the trusses that support the actual roof (corrugated iron sheeting) rest on the walls and the cantilevered part is additionally supported by a gum-pole structure. Thus we can generate cross-ventilation within the units by having windows at the lower side and ventilation windows at the higher end of each unit, permitting the hot air to escape at the top, the trusses with a hight of min. 35-40 cm carry the ceiling (insulated and panelled) on the inside of the spaces and above, the roof battens rest on the upper part of the trusses to carry the corrugated. This enables the sun to heat the metal roof that propels the air and pulls it under the roof and above the ceiling with a natural cooling effect.

(click images to enlarge !)
















The realisation as mentioned above wants to be very simple but effective to passive heating and cooling for winter and summer. The cantilever of the roof needs to be set to enable this according to the inclination of the sun in summer (87°) and winter (42°).

open questions at this point:

can the eco-beam trusses be used to achieve this cantilever?

how far can you go without additional support (we are envisaging 1,50 - 1,80 m) on the lower side and mabe up to 3,5 m on the higher side to generate the ever pleasant shade on the court yard side of the buildings.

(click images to enlarge !)
















The other aspect to investigate is the aspect of availability of materials:

sand we know that we can find;
foundations, with rocks (bricks?) and cement, we can create a good base;
the floor needs to protect from humidity so what ever we use as finish, a damp course will be necessary;
gum-poles will be necessary to a big extent to support the roofing;
material for the front like shutter board (will try DOKA again);
sheeting material, could be metal, but alternatives are welcome;
windows, sliding doors and glasing as well as ventilation slits will have to be bought;

looking forward in having a little discussion on this soon!!