And the winner is... sustainability

Sustainability has been the focal point of this year’s Architectural and Construction Industry Awards season.

Award winning architects PlaceSense recently received the Australian Institute of Architect’s (AIA) State Commendation for Sustainable Architecture for the Montessori International College Library and Double GLA project at Sippy Downs, Queensland.

PlaceSense Principal Dr Phillip Daffara designed both buildings for a Sippy Downs school, based on a steel frame with modular wall and floor panels that can be disassembled into a flat pack format ready for when the College moves to a new campus in the future. In consultation with the engineers TOD Consulting, a flat pack system was chosen over a demountable system due to the savings in not having to design a stronger structure that had to withstand the strain of crainage.

“The library building’s authentic expression of materials and structure reveal the ‘skin and bones’ of the architecture and contemporary building practices/technology to the students. Both buildings also have strong spatial and visual connections to the surrounding landscape. . The organising principle for the library was the creation of two spaces - a small library pavilion housing the most valuable resources and a larger learning commons in the form of a luminous verandah.”, said Dr Daffara.

Sustainable building products are an integral part of sustainable design. Queensland based manufacturer Ritek Building Solutions is an industry leader in sustainable manufacturing processes and products and has featured in a number of award winning building designs this awards season, for projects including the Kingaroy Crematorium which was awarded the Qld State Architecture Award for Public Architecture - as well as providing the roof for the Montessori College library.

Ritek has supplied innovative products to the construction industry since 1983 and the company continues to demonstrate a firm commitment to sustainability through their innovative roof and wall products. Both products been confirmed to positively contribute towards achieving Green Star credits points when included as part of the building through Ecospecifier.

The company monitors its manufacturing operation’s impact as part of their recent acceptance as an EcoBiz partner. As part of the program, Ritek continuously identifies efficiencies in waste, water and energy. Recently the company implemented a recycling program through which they hope to achieve their recycling target of over 80% of all manufacturing and operations waste.

Dr Daffara said, “Ritek’s roof system was chosen for both building’s skillion rooves for their ease of assembly and disassembly as well as its high thermal comfort. As the Ritek roof panel consists of an upper and lower sheet of COLORBOND® corrugated sheeting either side of a polystyrene (EPS) core, it will be as easy as unscrewing the bolts and flat-packing with the rest of the building, when it comes time to move the college to the next site.”