Projects

Located within a seaside residential community in Discovery Bay, the Discovery College Private Independent School, with its distinctive roof canopy, aims to create a "total education environment" that inspires learning and fosters interaction among the students and teaching staff.

CONTEXT
The campus sits on a small site surrounded by low- and medium-rise properties on two sides, while the other sides have open views towards the playground and mangroves bordering the South China Sea. To minimise the blocking of views to these neighbouring properties the school is built low into the ground and its floor plates are set back to reduce its bulk as it rises in height. This resulted in a reversed spatial organisation where all its covered playground and indoor swimming pool are located on the roofs and terraces. The overarching canopy that provides the necessary cover to the roof, terraces and swimming pool creates a tempered micro-climate for the school to make outdoor spaces usable all year round.

ENVIRONMENTAL SHIELD
The functional planning of the school adopts the basic principle of shielding solar radiant heat with solid mass on the south- and west-facing aspects to create a cool, well-ventilated inner space for the occupants, just like a traditional courtyard house.

To ensure a sustainable dynamic school environment a large solar and thermal shield is introduced to turn the inhospitable open spaces into informal teaching areas and a social interactive space usable all year round. The canopy, which composes of lightweight air-filled cushions made from ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE), provides thermal insulation that reduces the radiant temperature on the multiple roof terraces by 6 centigrade while transmitting 94 percent of natural light through to illuminate the lowest ground level cloister. Aided by the aerodynamic shape of the canopy the air flow rate through the school is increased by 3 to 5 m/sec, creating convection cooling essential for thermal comfort for these open spaces to be enjoyed during hot and humid seasons. The micro-climate under the canopy is akin to an outdoor space that has a tree over one's head for shade and a gentle breeze to keep cool. The removal of radiant heat and the induction of air movement is the concept behind the passive Green feature of the design.

Without using any energy, the envelope has successfully added values to the school by improving its functionality, reducing maintenance cost of the building fabric due to solar exposure, and increasing teaching areas by being able to use outdoor spaces.

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