Tring Park School

The new studio building is located in an area of outstanding natural beauty and therefore needed to blend into its surroundings and be a sustainable scheme. The building is constructed from timber that was prepared off-site and constructed within six weeks. The extremely low thermal properties for the building elements keep the internal space cool in the summer and warm in the winter contributing to the low running cost and carbon emission. From the inception of the project, the school stated that sustainability and environmental comfort for the pupils was high on the agenda.

The studio utilises a natural ventilation strategy consisting of openable windows on the external facade and roof that are user controlled: cooler fresh air enters through the windows and stale warmer air stratifies through the space to atmosphere through the rooflights. During the coldest days of the year, a mechanical ventilation heat recovery system provides supply air to the rooms. This strategy uses the warmer air generated by the pupils and lights to preheat the cold fresh air. The introduction of supply air to the space is via fabric ducts which are washable and have a low-embodied carbon element compared to steel ductwork and, more importantly, allows air to be introduced to the space at a very low velocity which is important for a dance studio.

Heating is introduced to the space via an underfloor system coupled to a high-efficiency condensing boiler additional finned tube radiators have been incorporated into the studios and circulation areas for additional heat. Extensive daylighting simulations informed the design of the glazed facades and rooflight and reduced the amount of time the studio needs to use artificial lighting reducing energy consumption. The lighting circuits can be switched separately within each studio to give greater flexibility with the usage. The roof is covered by a sedum roof which retains rainwater, enhances biodiversity and beds the building down into the landscape.

This building was not assessed against a formal energy benchmark criteria, however this design certainly has the credentials to achieve BREEAM Excellent.