Junior School Building, St Benedicts School

Ingleton Wood were appointed for full M&E and Environmental Design and worked in collaboration with Van Heyningen and Haward Architects on the design and construction of the ‘New Ark’ for the Junior School providing classrooms and space for the Nursery, previously housed off-site. The scheme adopted a Passivhaus approach to sustainability in delivering a well-insulated and low cost in use building.

In addition to standard MEP detailed design the Practice also took responsibility for the PHPP (Passive House Planning Package) software and calculations. A clear understanding of the calculations and predictions involved in low-energy building relies upon the use of accurate modelling software. PHPP software was used to calculate energy use and CO2 emissions based on both dynamic thermal simulations and data gathered from hundreds of low-energy buildings.

We carefully reviewed the layout and form of the building at an early stage to make sure the design could meet the requisite very low energy standard. We ensured that the building was able to take advantage of solar gain without impacting on summer overheating via the use of brise soleil. The shading afforded cuts off the high energy summer sun, while allowing for the low angle winter sun. We also minimised heat loss through reduced glazing with emphasis on getting construction details and airtightness just right. Our M&E team designed a Passivhaus compliant Mechanical Ventilation Heat Recovery (MVHR) system using appropriately sized accredited air handling units with low energy demand.

Our design team worked closely with the architectural and structural engineering team on the building envelope which was primarily formed of solid cross-laminated timber panels. This form of construction was chosen for both its ability to be fabricated off-site to minimise disruption and for its airtightness performance which will contribute to achieving Passivhaus certification.

Our input included a soft landing approach for teaching staff providing instruction on how to use the building from an MEP perspective post occupation and then monitoring building efficiency and cost in use.