We’re delighted to announce construction of the new education building is now complete.  Here are some photos of the final stages:
Stay tuned to nscf.org.au for upcoming launch details!

Click on any image for a larger version.

City Farm seeks to build a durable, robust and iconic community building to meet its education needs and to embody the Organisation’s Permaculture-based philosophy and spirit.

Designed as a public showcase of smart, best-practice sustainable design, it is set to become one of the greenest small public buildings in Australia, and will set a precedent in terms of innovative sustainable design in subtropical Brisbane.

This includes cutting edge features such as the ‘meadow roof’, which uses the latest green technologies to deliver a thin-section, intensively planted cover.  We believ

e that this is the first time this technology has been employed in Queensland.

Other examples are the passive solar design, the use of timbers sourced from certifiable sustainable forests, or alternatively, recycled timbers, utilising straw as a durable building component and introducing earth render as a low embodied energy thermal mass element.

Construction commenced in early 2010.

The project is driven by the flood prone nature of the current office, which is more than 2.5 metres below the 1 in 100 year flood level.  NSCF’s workers have also expressed a desire for an office upgrade with improved ventilation, lighting, storage space and layout.

This bulk of the project is funded by the Australian Government through the Teaching and Learning Capital Fund (TLCF) for Vocational Education and Training (VET).

The building will be open and ready for use by June 30, 2010 with further embellishments, such as solar panels, added as funds become available.

Building Details

The building consists of a ground floor education space (140 square metres) and a first floor office, meeting room and library (50 square metres).

The key sustainability features include:

• Design for Q100 flood event
• All timber materials to be sustainable FSC certified or recycled timbers, where possible
• 3kW photo-voltaic roof mounted system
• ‘Green roof’ – meadow style eaves with light well
• Building location, orientation, plan layout, roof design and window types to maximise appropriate passive solar climate management and cross ventilation of the building
• ‘Floor to wall’ book shelving on the western wall along with an external venting wall cavity has an insulation effect and prevents direct heat gain, encouraging the hot air to rise and escape
• Ceiling fans (no air conditioning) on the first floor are the active climate control greatly increasing comfort levels
• Recycled casement windows hinged in one direction and louvers

Key Project Drivers

This project has come about because:

• City Farm has experienced two damaging floods in the last 12 months – 17th November, 2008 and 20th May, 2009.  Office equipment, paperwork and the library were badly damaged particularly in the May 2009 flood.  The current office is not flood proof.
• Recently, there have been unprecedented levels of community interest and enrolments in permaculture and horticulture education at City Farm.  The Farm’s existing educational facilities are currently at capacity. This includes the library collection.
• At a NSCF planning event held in 2008 the office was identified as been too small and inadequately designed (lighting, space, ventilation, storage…) to meet the needs of staff.

Building Description

The building consists of a ground floor education space (140 square metres) and a first floor office, meeting room and library (50 square metres).  It is located on the northern side of Edgar Street and east of the large car park.  Please refer to the architectural sketches.

The key sustainability features include:

• Design for flood
• All timber materials to be sustainable FSC certified or recycled timbers, where possible.
• 3kW photo-voltaic roof mounted system
• ‘Green roof’ – meadow style eaves with light shafts
• Building orientation and location, and window types and layout to maximise passive solar gain and air flow into the building.
• Ceiling fans (no air conditioning) on the first floor.
• Recycled windows.

Sponsorship & Other Assistance

Potential suppliers or sponsors are asked to contact our architect directly at SZannakis@spiral.org.au

Additional Documents

• Full information for members and visitors
• Photos of models of the building
• Building plan