Environmental study for the proposal for the Anatolia Elementary School Extension Architectural Competition - 2016

Location: Thessaloniki

Client: Anatolia Elementary School

Design Team: Prodromos Nikiforidis, Bernard Cuomo
Bioclimatic Design: Dimitris Bozis, Efi Karioti

Mechanical Engineering: Dimitris Bozis

Structural Engineering: Maria Stefanouri

 

 

Sustainability Philosophy and Bioclimatic Design

 

Main target is to achieve a high performance building that promotes health & comfort while maintaining running and maintenance costs low.  Following basic good design principles instead of resorting to high-end solutions is the basic guideline.  School buildings are frequently used as case studies to implement energy saving innovative techniques.  We favor the implementation of such features, given they have a quick payback and proven performance. Above all, the uncompromised issue is the children’s well being, safety  and comfort since they spend 1/3 of their day at school.

An additional bonus from designing and building “green” school,  is that it can substantially promote environmental consciousness among students. This is best achieved when students become familiarized with the features that make their school special through the learning process.

 

The basic principles of the buildings’ design are:

• Bioclimatic building design is fully implemented.  Favoring the north-south orientation for the majority of the classrooms was a key decision.

• Special effort has been made to to ensure high Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) in building’s main areas. Mechanical ventilation with heat recovery systems are introduced for all main areas.

•  Provide a daylighting scheme that ensures visual comfort and a high quality indoor space. Light shelves are proposed to better distribute daylighting into the classrooms.