ID: 36 - R. D. Lawrence Place
Images
Sept 2007
Under Construction July 2007
Interior view
Interior view
Interior view
Chordwood wall detail with stone base, stone bench, custom wood door, wine bottle inserts & stained glass window
Chordwood wall & stone bench
Soy-based painted leaf patterns on concrete floor
Glass mosaic tile at washroom sink
Strawbale details - Working Drawings by soma earth ARCHITECT
Sept 2007
Under Construction July 2007
Interior view
Interior view
Interior view
Chordwood wall detail with stone base, stone bench, custom wood door, wine bottle inserts & stained glass window
Chordwood wall & stone bench
Soy-based painted leaf patterns on concrete floor
Glass mosaic tile at washroom sink
Strawbale details - Working Drawings by soma earth ARCHITECT
Owner(s): Minden Hills Cultural Centre
Region: Kawartha Lakes/Haliburton Highlands
Municipality: Minden Hills
Email: rdlawrenceplace@mindenhills.ca
Web site: http://www.sustainablebuilding2007.ca or www.mindenculturalcentre.com
Number of bathrooms: 1
Building footprint, square feet: 1900
Number of stories: 1
Occupancy date: April 22 2008
Region: Kawartha Lakes/Haliburton Highlands
Municipality: Minden Hills
Email: rdlawrenceplace@mindenhills.ca
Web site: http://www.sustainablebuilding2007.ca or www.mindenculturalcentre.com
Number of bathrooms: 1
Building footprint, square feet: 1900
Number of stories: 1
Occupancy date: April 22 2008
Builder arrangement: Both owner and contractor
Main contractor company: Sir Sanford Fleming students as part of the Sustainable Design and Construction course
Designer's name: Chris Magwood
Architect's name: Ingrid Cyrns
Architect's firm: Soma Earth ARCHITECT www.somaearth.com
Structural engineer's name: Anthony Spick
Structural engineer's firm: Blackwell Bowick Engineering
Length of time to build (start to occupancy): April 2007 - Sept 2007
Volunteer participation: yes
Ease of obtaining a building permit: Easy
Main contractor company: Sir Sanford Fleming students as part of the Sustainable Design and Construction course
Designer's name: Chris Magwood
Architect's name: Ingrid Cyrns
Architect's firm: Soma Earth ARCHITECT www.somaearth.com
Structural engineer's name: Anthony Spick
Structural engineer's firm: Blackwell Bowick Engineering
Length of time to build (start to occupancy): April 2007 - Sept 2007
Volunteer participation: yes
Ease of obtaining a building permit: Easy
Straw type: Hemp
Mechanical systems info: As the main space is intended as a museum, there was some concern that the natural light would not deteriorate some of the historical artifacts. Natural windows where carefully placed so as to provide natural lighting evenly, but not too much, limiting direct south sunlight somewhat. The lighting for installed into this main space consisted of 10 Par 38 warm white screw base retrofits, with 5W consumption, and 16 Par 30 warm white screw base retrofits, with 5W consumption. For the other areas, which include an office, document archive and washroom, 9 x 9W and 2 x 26W compact fluorescent lights were used. The lights in the bathroom were on censors, and the other areas received relatively low overall traffic and usage. If all lights were operating at any given moment, only 1.36W/ m2 would be consumed for lighting power . For emergency lighting systems, a conventional battery backup low voltage system was used, consisting of a battery pack large enough to accommodate six individual heads. Outdoor lighting a solar powered motion sensor security lights, and seven (7) par 38 cool white screw base retrofits, with 5W consumption. Power from phantom loads such as exit signs was saved using Lumonall, which is a photo-luminescent material used for emergency egress signage. It requires no wiring, bulbs or electricity to operate, thus reducing manufacturing waste, pollution due to manufacturing and distribution, and saves valuable energy. Energy savings in the bathroom included using LEED approved & GreenSpec listed, GXT ExtremeAir. This product has automatic sensors and uses 88% less energy than a conventional hand dryer. For ventilation, 100% of the building was within seven (7) metres access to an operable window.
Electrical systems info: The main source of electrical power for the building was supplied by the existing site services provided by the Minden Cultural Centre. There was no extra budget for the initial building to include it. Future expansion could add that at a later date and Bullfrog power may be purchased to offset this use. However a demonstration PV panels was build beside the building rather than on top of it in order to be used for demonstration purposes both for the Fleming College students as well as for the museums sustainability educational programs. On the ground, the panel is carefully oriented in the direction of solar south. To provide hot water in the bathrooms, a solar thermal hot water system was installed. For heating and cooling, hydronic radiant in-floor system tubing was installed under a concrete floor slab throughout the entire space. Ultimately, the building is free of fossil fuels and polluting emissions and has a net zero energy factor.
Other green features: Some of its sustainable features include: * Passive solar design * Straw bale and slipstraw construction with earthen and lime plasters * Locally-milled and reclaimed windfall lumber * Composting toilets * Roof truss system with galvanized metal sheathing * Soy based floor stain * Solar hot water system * Radiant floor heating * Renewable electricity generation and demonstration * Milk paint finished board and batten sheathing * Non-toxic finishes and interior surfaces * Cordwood interior walls with recycled materials * Indoor constructed wetland for waste water treatment * Extensive use of local and recycled materials to keep the overall embodied energy as low as possible Materials and Resources R.D. Lawrence Place was designed to use the most sustainable methods and materials to create a healthy, beautiful, functional, and environmentally-responsible building. Some of its sustainable features include: • Passive solar design • Straw bale and slipstraw construction with earthen and lime plasters • Locally-milled and reclaimed windfall lumber • Composting toilets • Roof truss system with galvanized metal sheathing • Soy based floor stain • Solar hot water system • Radiant floor heating • Renewable electricity generation and demonstration • Milk paint finished board and batten sheathing • Non-toxic finishes and interior surfaces • Cordwood interior walls with recycled materials • Indoor constructed wetland for waste water treatment • Extensive use of local and recycled materials to keep the overall embodied energy as low as possible Structural Systems The building is supported structurally with standard FSC certified wood framing with an octagonal box beam ‘ring’ to tie it all together at the top. A truss based roofing system is used with steel sheathing which comes from a 100% recycled source. Cellulose insulation was blown into the ceiling space. The framework for windows and doors was a standard stick frame, with rectangular hemp straw bale infill, which was provided by a local hemp farmer. All wood and lumber used during the building process was FSC certified, including the roof trusses and plywood. Steel roofing was used which avoids the use of plywood sheathing. Inside the larger octagonal museum space is a replica log cabin, imitating the solitary small log cabin that RD Lawrence used to live in. The log cabin was wood framed on the interior to house a humidity controlled archive document storage room a mechanical room and a staff washroom. The exterior was clad in natural round wood sections, sliced to be attached to the wall and then plastered in-between each log. The roof is wood shingled with special inspirational words applied to the chimney – which housed the washroom and document storage room ventilation stacks to the roof. Hemp Straw Bales, Clay and Plaster The wall sections are filled with regular, rectangular hemp-straw bales. Hemp was preferred as it is a stronger, more durable fibre than any other type of straw. Clay plastered straw bale walls are one of the most environmentally friendly building systems available. The combination of locally-grown, minimally-processed straw and locally harvested clay means that the embodied energy in the wall system is a tiny fraction of any other wall system. Combined with excellent thermal performance over the lifetime of the building, this system saves energy in every possible way, and is comparable in time and cost to most conventional building systems. To create the finished skin layer on the strawbale biofibre insulation, (which also provides significant structural benefit), a one (1) inch thickness, comprising of three (3) layers of earthen plaster on the interior and exterior walls was applied and then was air dried to cure. The entry vestibule developed the opportunity to do a more artistic sculptural treatment of the plaster to showcase some of the plaster layering. A straw/clay, slipstraw, wall was construction for the entry vestibule portion of the building and a chordwood wall was construction for the wall between the vestibule and the main space. The chordwood wall has recycled bottles in a decorative pattern as a feature of this unusual textured wall surface. A unique natural stone top bench with natural round wooden logs supports was built into this wall on the large museum space side. Flooring The concrete floor is intended as a thermal mass to not only hold the passive heat of the sun through the windows, but to also house the radiant water heating housed in plastic tubing. This type of floor material combined with the heating methods allows the heat to radiate evenly throughout the space. The concrete floor was patterned with 3D plastic insects molds, pressed into the surface. For the final finish, it was painted in various leaf or stone patterns with a soy based paint. The combination of the floor material and radiant heating systems along with the thermal mass within the natural earthen plaster of the walls creates a superior indoor air quality that is unmatched with conventional construction. As the strawbale walls ‘breathe’ or rather, ‘respire’, through minute water vapour molecules, the cold or heat is slowed down dramatically as it travels through the dense, 21” thick (+/- R 35) biofibre hemp/straw bales. The interior earthen plaster becomes a heat absorber in the winter and a cool absorber in the summer, slowly radiating from all the surfaces, evenly, in the space of all the rooms. Thus the air quality is greatly enhanced in this type of building. Finishes Off-gassing and VOC’s in new buildings caused by synthetic chemical compounds used in things such as paints and lacquers, vinyl materials and furnishings, etc are a major concern with poor air quality. As the performance arts centre used only natural material without chemical alteration, off-gassing due to volatile organic compounds was non-existent. In addition, clay minerals in the plaster finishes are known to have an ion exchange capacity, enabling them to absorb ions for cations or anion, in turn creating healthier air and energy in whatever environment they occupy. The interior plaster walls were painted with a natural white milk paint as the art gallery client wanted a neutral colour to display various artwork on the walls. The exterior plaster walls where also painted with a natural white milk paint and the exterior walls where clad in vertical wood board and batten, stained with a dark blue milk paint as well. Ceramic mosaic tile was used for the baseboards and a very beautiful artistic broken mosaic tile feature was used in the staff washroom sink backsplash and mirror surround. Compressed clay with a black natural pigment was used for the countertop and desk in the reception/office room. The clay top was carefully hand compressed with 14 layers of linseed oil between each press. A mosaic tile was used for the return edge. During construction of the building 85% of the waste produced on-site was diverted form a landfill and either recycled or re-used. We are also proud to say that 90% of the building materials were sourced and shipped from a 80km radius of the building location.
Anything else you'd like to share?: R.D. Lawrence Place will house the literary collection of naturalist and author, RD. Lawrence. Educational programming will take place here. In preparation for the site, no harm or disruption to ecology or natural habitat was necessary. The location chosen for the building was directly on top of an existing dirt parking lot, beside a rural open area. Upon excavation for the foundation, the ground beneath the parking lot was found to be a peat bog. To reduce impact of building on peat bog, a non-intrusive foundation system was used. Helical piers, steel rods with an auger on the bottom end, are turned into the ground until they reach a layer of solid bearing – this avoids excavation and removal of the bog material. A thin slab and grade beam system was used to minimize the amount of concrete rather than using a traditional thick slab. The foundation was surrounded by a skirt of rigid insulation so that is could remain shallow and have less of an impact on the peat bog. The foundation systems were also made with a high content supplementary cementing materials in all concrete (50% slag displaced cement). Lime plaster was used on the exterior. This avoids the use of cement which has 3x the amount of green house gases as lime production. Also, transportation impact, pollution & the mining impact was further completely avoided by the use of earth plaster on interior produces. The clay content of the earthen plaster was found locally. This was used to seal and create the exterior layer of the bales. The strawbale walls are used a shear walls for the buildings lateral structural system. Furthermore, no plastics or man-made products are used in wall systems at all. The future benefits of the site’s ecology in comparison to a conventional building were the highest in consideration on this project. During the course of the buildings life, there will be a 0% of toxic chemicals leeching from the building in the ground or water stream, or carbon emissions created from energy that is not renewable. Most importantly, when the building’s lifetime has expired in the distant future, most of the materials used can either be safely returned into the ground, or have been designed to be removed and recycled for life is cyclical in nature, such as aluminum, future production and reproduction.
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