Project team
- Australian Glass Group
- RAICO Pacific
Expansion of German International School with high-performance modular classrooms designed for energy efficiency and enhanced learning environments in Terrey Hills, NSW.
Three modular classrooms were required to accommodate the expansion of Sydney’s German International School in Terrey Hills NSW. These modular classrooms were required to have world-best-practice energy efficiency properties, together with high visual light transmission, to foster well-being, enhance learning, while creating a sustainable and energy efficient learning environment.
Fenestration system developer and fabricator, RAICO Bautechnik has supplied its high-performance European window and doors frames for extensive use throughout the project. RAICO systems are certified to PassivHaus standard, a stringent international building standard, which guarantees super-high-performance, comfortable and healthy buildings. Meeting the PassivHaus standards was essential for these high-performance modular classrooms, requiring meticulous design planning, fabrication and installation.
Specification of high-performance triple glazed units manufactured locally by AGG, were a crucial element in achieving PassivHaus energy requirements and classification. As with all their recent projects, the architect firm betti & knut architecture chose triple glazing integrated with composite frames as the optimal solution, all achieved on a very manageable budget.
The choice of AGG was a natural one for betti & knut. ‘We were driven by our client’s brief to build a demountable for the same price as a standard structure, all while achieving PassivHaus standards,’ says Knut Menden, Head Architect at Betti und Knut. ‘Having worked successfully with AGG before, we were able to achieve these goals with the aid of performance glazing constructed as triple glazed units.’
The building’s primary function as a classroom made transparency essential. ‘We were aiming to keep visual light transmission as high as possible, while achieving the specific thermal values we were seeking,’ says Knut. ‘We ended up achieving EN glass values for VLT of 71%, Ug of 0.56 Wm2K and a Solar Factor (g) of 0.46, demonstrating the glazing system’s effectiveness.’
The building’s other materials were equally essential in creating an environmentally sustainable learning environment. ‘We constructed the classroom with cross-laminated timber and timber cladding, enabling us to improve the building envelope’s energy performance and thermal efficiency while massively lowering the building’s overall carbon footprint,’ Knut expands.
Performance glazing was central in achieving PassivHaus standards. Working in tandem with the thermally broken and insulated window system manufactured and supplied by RAICO Pacific, AGG’s acclaimed triple glazed units created a comfortable, temperature-regulated internal learning environment with a negligible environmental impact.
The inner of the triple glazed unit also used a laminated glass for added acoustics, internal protection from fading factors of the sun’s harmful UV, and added safety for its school environment.
As Andreas Luzzi from RAICO Pacific says, the project’s cutting-edge design and material specification, is central in slashing energy use. ‘The entire classroom, from fabrication to installation, is carbon-negative, meaning it stores more CO2 than was required to construct it,’ he explains. ‘As this building convincingly demonstrates, we already have all the tools and solutions we need to solve our environmental problems.’
The German International School Sydney demonstrates the capacities of advanced window and glazing technology used to enhance learning spaces, while conserving the maximum energy possible. PS: The classrooms run entirely with solar PV power.
2022 Sustainability Awards Winner – Education Research
2022 Timber Design Awards Winner – Sustainability
2022 Timber Design Awards Winner – Small Budget
2023 INDE Awards shortlist – The Learning Space
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