Automotive Centre of Excellence, Kangan Batman TAFE, by Lyons in Australia
March 24th, 2009 - Posted in Architecture Design
The Automotive Centre of Excellence (ACE) was designed by Architect and located in Melbourne’s Docklands accommodates a dedicated training and showcase facility for Australia’s Victorian automotive trades and manufacturing. Stage One Automotive Centre of Excellence consists of approximately 2,500sqm of high-bay workshop space and 2,500sqm for specialist workrooms, classrooms and office accommodation. The building absorbs sources from automotive culture, and its relationships with the city; kerb signs, tyre treads, city overpasses, and the sheen of car showrooms. The interiors evoke something of the automotive predilection for contrasting the technological and mechanical with the finished and the smooth.
Stage One ACE was built to a TAFE budget (approx. $2500sqm) to reflect the ‘green aspirations’ of the automotive industry- no longer gas guzzling- but clean and efficient. Although a key driver for the project, sustainability was conceived of as embedded rather than exemplary- a paradigm shift from sustainability as ‘different’ and expensive.
Stage One ACE is a fully naturally ventilated building incorporating two intake, and thermal chimney zones. One ventilates the workshop spaces to the south of the building through a series of automated louvres and exhausts through the characteristic black chimneys on the roof. A second system ventilates the offices and classroom spaces to the north and is characterised by the black north facing façade, the depth of which acts as an integral sun-shading device. Air enters the building via a perforated soffit lining traveling through an air plenum to sill-mounted diffusers. Automated louvers and baffles embedded in the plenum are made tamper proof. Air passes through the office and classroom spaces and exhausts through the three level atrium space via roof-mounted cowls. Stage One ACE is the first Australian building to incorporate BATISO active thermal mass cooling. Cooling coils embedded into the post-tensioned slabs reticulation chilled water providing ‘coolth’ to classroom spaces.
Water is chilled via conventional chiller equipment and through heat exchange chambers developed in the design of a 100,000litre underground tank. A night-time purge facility operates in concert with the BATISO system. Chilled water, having passed through the coil system is reticulated to the roof on a clear night for radiant night cooling- also a major first for Australian buildings. A secondary chilled beam system operates in the office areas only whilst black tube gas fired radiant heaters provide spot heating to workshop areas. Stage One ACE’s energy use is approximately one third of conventional commercial buildings and the facility has achieved a 5-star Greenstar Rating for design, another first for TAFE facilities.
In addition to a series of unique ventilation and cooling systems, Stage One ACE incorporates a series of key material and finishes selections that minimise VOCs. Carpet, paint and resilient finishes were chosen against ‘whole of life’ criteria spanning from recycled content, life span and ability to be recycled.
Furniture and fitting were also selected to achieve sustainable principals. Teaching and management systems were developed with the user client to ensure sustainable principals were maintained including the introduction of water-based paints in the car painting and detailing training areas. These are coupled with waste management and recycling streams capturing materials from steel, timber, paper and putrescible wastes. Ultimately Stage One ACE attempts to demonstrate a new paradigm for the sustainable project that uses the basics.
