Project Title: Krishna-Avanti Primary School
Location: Middlesex
Wood Species: SIBERIAN LARCH
Product Description
The Project
Krishna-Avanti Primary School promotes the use of FSC approved timber in its structure and the internal and external cladding and the use of wood for the building (in opposition to ferrous metals) was a key element of the client’s brief.
The client believes that wood provides a good environment for mental well-being and concentration. The School is the first voluntary aided Hindu School in the UK and aims to produce socially-aware citizens who adopt responsible lifestyles that help sustain our planet. A Hindu chapel built in traditional Vedic style is incorporated into the school, alongside a music and drama space, a spiritual japa garden and zones where pupils will be barefoot and areas for shoe storage.
The landscaping and outdoor areas are integrated into the teaching curriculum and allotments generate food for the vegetarian kitchen. The finished school’s architecture reflects the Hindu community, whilst being a state of the art educational environment and a sustainable building with an integrated engineering approach that provides a low impact, energy efficient solution; 70% of space heating is derived from ground source heat pumps, recycling is highly integrated into the school and classrooms contain monitors for the Building Management System to record and display energy use. The school has one of the highest BREEAM scores in the country and is fully accessible and inclusive.
The building’s external elevations are largely FSC approved Siberian Larch with some fibre-composite boards which have been screen-printed with a decorative design developed with a Hindu artist. The internal courtyard features Larch columns topped with a decorative Larch fascia which has been CNC routed to create a Hindu pattern. Internal linings are Birch veneer plywood. The Larch cladding is all 100% pure FSC Siberian Larch unsorted Top Grade, dried to approx 16%+ - 2%. It was sourced from the Russian Lesosibisk Mill in the far north of the country so the timber is slow grown and has an excellent Durability rating. The structure of the building utilizes a range of timber products which were each chosen pragmatically based on their particular strengths:
- Regularised and planed all round softwood was used for walls, floors and short span rafters
- Engineered timber I-joists were adopted for longer span roof structures
- Softwood glulams were used in conjunction with the I-joists and for long spanning, heavily loaded beams
- Siberian Larch glulams were used for visually and externally exposed structures
The various products elegantly came together using a combination of nailed metal fixings, resin fixings and traditional carpentry details. Timber treatment was used sparingly. The exposed larch glulams were left untreated. The project was completed in September 2009 for a budget of £7 million.
BUILDING OWNER: I-FOUNDATION / NITESH GOR
ARCHITECT: COTTRELL & VERMEULEN ARCHITECTURE LTD
STRUCTURAL ENGINEER: ENGINEERS HRW
MAIN CONTRACTOR: MANSELL CONSTRUCTION SERVICES LTD
JOINERY COMPANY: NEW WORLD TIMBER FRAME
WOOD SUPPLIER: W L WEST & SON LTD
