Franklin Early Childhood School
Project Details
Architects
May + Russell Architects
Address
135 Oodgeroo Avenue Franklin , ACT 2913 Australia
Submitter
Lee Barker – ACT Education & Training Directorate
Cost
$25.6million
Photographer
May + Russell Architects
Project Overview
Franklin Early Childhood School opened for the commencement of the 2013 school year and can accommodate children from birth up to 8 years of age. The school comprises a 120 place childcare centre and can accommodate up to 300 preschool to year 2 students.
Franklin Early Childhood School (FECS) was and is designed to meet the needs of students in the age range of Birth to 8 years, a facility specifically designed to accommodate their developmental characteristics. The design of the school meets the children ‘s need for exercise, rest, quiet contemplation, collaborative learning, academic and social inquiry, investigation and exploration.
The school is also designed for two related but diverse providers the first being the childcare facility that is open from 7.30am until 6pm and operated by ANGLICARE and the second is the public education facility that addresses the first four years of schooling in the ACT i.e. preschool, Kindergarten, year one and year two.
FECS provides high quality learning, integrated services and family support and participation in a community based environment for children and their families during the all-important early learning years.
FECS is the first purpose built public early childhood school in the ACT. The school follows on from early childhood schools recently developed at Narrabundah, Lyons, Isabella Plains and Scullin (Southern Cross) by conversion of existing primary school buildings. The planning and design of FECS relied considerably on consultation with the managers of these facilties.
The Education and Training Directorate (ETD) is committed to waste minimisation, water efficiency, transport efficiency and energy usage reduction. Some of the features incorporated into the design to achieve this are:
Energy reduction through:
•Naturally Ventilated classrooms where ever possible with the ability to improve comfort conditions by BMS control of the internal environment as required.
•Solar Hot Water systems with gas booster
•Automated Lighting control with motion detectors and daylight sensors
•Use of Solar PV panels to generate electricity for use by the building and with the possibility of feeding any excess power into the local electricity network.
•Use of gas engine heating / cooling has the effect of reducing the building electrical load and associated sizes of main switchboards and cabling.
Water reduction through:
•Rainwater harvesting system
•Installation of water efficient taps, showers and toilets
Waste reduction through:
•Provision of recycling areas for recycling during operation