Friday 29 January 2010
zoom
Cedar Cladding Fitted

The gutters to the sixth form building have been tested and, with no leaks, the profiled bullnose eaves are now being fitted. The profiled eaves conceal the gutters around the edge of the roof and form a neat profile to the roof of the building. In this photograph you can also see the sun pipes on the roof that will bring natural light deep into the centre of the building. The cedar cladding is also now being fitted to the external walls at first floor level. You may have seen the first boards going on opposite the mathematics classrooms.

zoom
The cedar boards provide a protective and decorative envelope to the building, and are being left to weather naturally to a silver-grey colour. Timber cladding is attractive, versatile, environmentally friendly and allows for greater design flexibility. Timber has many environmental benefits as a building material, the chief of these being that it is a naturally renewable resource: growing trees get their energy from the sun, and help to reduce global warming by requiring a fraction of the non-renewable fossil fuels burned in the production of materials such as aluminum, steel and PVC whilst at the same time absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and giving out oxygen.

zoom
The ceilings above the classrooms will conceal the air heat pumps. These extract heat from the outside air in the same way that a fridge extracts heat from its inside. They extract heat from the air even when the temperature outside is as low as minus 15°C. The warm air is then circulated by fans to heat the building. The benefits of air source heat pumps are:
• Reduced fuel bills: air source heat pumps run on electricity, so there's no need to pay for gas, oil or solid fuels to heat the building.
• Cut down on wasted electricity: heating the building with an air source heat pump is much more efficient than using electric radiators.
• Save space: air source heat pumps require no storage space for fuel.

zoom
To reduce the school’s CO2 emissions further the school could consider installing solar electricity or some other form of renewable electricity generating system to power the compressors and pumps when they have more funds available.

We are now breaking through into the existing science building and forming a ramp down to the new floor level. The technicians’ preparation room has been reduced in size while the builders work in the area, but the contractor is carefully programming his work so there is as little disruption as possible to the running of your science lessons. You may have noticed that although the sixth form building is much larger than the science extension, the sixth form building is progressing relatively quickly; this is due to the sixth form construction using dry construction that does not rely on drying times and can be erected quickly on site. The walls in the science are still very wet from the recent rain and thaw and we need to dry this out sufficiently before plastering the walls.

What’s happening next?

Over the next few weeks you will see:

• Completion of roof to science
• Commencing internal partitions to science
• Timber cladding to sixth form
• Installation of windows to sixth form
• Scaffolding being removed ready for external render