Passivhaus

The form and fabric of the building are designed to be extremely air tight, with low U valves, high mass to the repositories, with maximised beneficial solar gain. The spaces are well daylit, and the lighting and controls are designed to work with occupation and daylight profiles. Ventilation is provided by high efficiency heat recovery air handling units, and the repositories have minimal mechanical intervention. The systems are controlled via a BMS, written to allow the users simple and effective control and monitoring.

To ensure the long-term preservation of the collections it was critical that the environmental conditions of the building remained very stable and well within the optimal tolerances for temperature and humidity.

The form and fabric of the building are designed to be extremely air tight, with low U valves, high mass to the repositories, with maximised beneficial solar gain. The spaces are well daylit, and the lighting and controls are designed to work with occupation and daylight profiles. Ventilation is provided by high efficiency heat recovery air handling units, and the repositories have minimal mechanical intervention. The systems are controlled via a BMS, written to allow the users simple and effective control and monitoring.

The school was designed from the outset to meet the Passivhaus energy standard, a quality standard that guarantees performance.

The rigorous methodology of Passivhaus Plus enables exceptional performance alongside zero carbon technologies which lower operational carbon to below zero.

The Passivhaus design approach optimises solar gains and significantly reduces the energy required to create a comfortable building.

Operational costs were substantially reduced due to lower levels of energy consumption as a result of less active equipment. Less equipment also reduces the risk of plant failure, maintenance costs and embodied carbon. Capital costs were also lower due to a reduction in overall complexity.

A Passivhaus strategy offered IWM an opportunity to use a low energy method that guaranteed stable environmental conditions for significantly lower running costs.

Retaining and strengthening the client and contractors relationships has been an important part of delivering a successful technical service.

The building takes the form of two simple and distinct masses, a windowless three-storey cedar-clad concrete box for the archive and records repository over three storeys, and a timber framed building for the other functions. These two blocks are separated by a ‘buffer zone’ in the form of a linear atrium which provides thermal buffering for the store and stack ventilation for the subsidiary spaces.

The new school is one of the first developments in the Scottish Futures Trust’s (SFT) Learning Estate Improvement Programme.

Building orientation, extensive insulation, as well as a MVHR (Mechanical Ventilation and Heat Recovery) will all dramatically reduce the energy required to create a comfortable building.

Architype’s experts guided the client, design and construction teams in their Passivhaus journeys.

Passivhaus Planning Package (PHPP) analysis was used to demonstrate that overall carbon emissions from the building will be cut by more than 80% over the next 100 years.

The Passivhaus building means residents can enjoy a consistent and comfortable ambient temperature maintained with little or no heating or cooling.

A collaborative client and project team was key to the successful delivery of the UK's first Passivhaus secondary school.