Here is an update from Building Designer Charlotte Lindsay, who has been busily working with the students at Mansfield Primary School:
Our Eco-Cubby group consists of 24 kids from grades 3 and 4. They are fantastic bunch who are really keen and interested. We have had about half a dozen lessons. We meet for an hour on a Friday morning.
It is only when you have to start explaining about environmental design and sustainability that you realise what a huge topic it is. We have done a lot of brainstorming, and when the kids get going it is fantastic to see how excited they get over the various concepts we have discussed.
March 20th
Our first Eco-Cubby session starts by trying to explain what Eco-Cubby is and what we are hoping to achieve. There is a bit of disappointment when the group is told that we won’t be constructing the actual building this year. They perk up though when they hear about the model and we talk about size and scale. We brainstorm some ideas about what we would like with our cubby: Solar friendly, Sun roof, Veggie and garden beds, Water tanks, Fire protection/proof, Big trees for shade, Compost Underground, Grass roof, Like an army tank
We walked around the school grounds to find a suitable site. We decide on a spot near a side entrance to the school which is a popular drop off/pickup point. We talk about the purpose of the Eco-Cubby (play) but also that it would double as a good shelter here whilst waiting for parents. The site is flat and north facing, with nice big trees to the west. We did all get a bit excited about doing an earth-covered cubby in a small hillock nearby, but this is shelved when the kids write to the headmistress asking for ‘planning permission.’ Sadly for us the hillock is to be turned into an outdoor amphitheatre one day.
There is a lot of talk about making it fire proof. Mansfield was very lucky this February, but bush fires are a constant part of these kids’ lives in summer and it certainly is an issue for them.
March 27th
Today we got into the serious stuff. Big words and topics like environmental and sustainable design, the impact of the built environment, energy usage and recycling, orientation and solar gain. There is so much to talk about and one does wonder if the kids can make any sense of all that is being explained to them. At the end of the class they are asked:
“So which way should you try to orientate your house?” and they all answer with a very loud “NORTH!” Fantastic!!! – how good is that? We tell them that we would be lucky to find 24 adults in the main street of Mansfield who would know what to say. Everyone is very chuffed. Then the Irish teacher’s aide who has been in the classroom throughout the session asks, “And what about if you were building in England?” Most of the kids yell out “SOUTH”.
If they understand nothing else but working with the sun then Eco-Cubby is a winner.
May 15th
I have just seen the film Garbage Warrior, so I bring the DVD into the class. Unfortunately it is rated M due to some colorful language, so we watch it on mute. The kids love the crazy earth ships and individuality of it all. The boys like “the old hippy on the motorbike” and they all love the walls and domes built out of recycled bottles and cans. The kids are inspired and start sketching some concepts.
May 22nd
We start putting together some ideas for materials we want to use for our cubby. Someone comes up with the idea of a grass – or sod roof and everyone agrees this is a definite. We discuss the merits (insulation, sound proofing, fire resistant, and carbon friendly) but also the problems, mainly the issue of catching rainwater. One of the boys comes up with a fantastic cross section explaining how he would do it.
Some of the class has homework to research materials for the next session, these include: water tanks, rammed earth walls, earthen floors, suitable plants for sod roof, catching rainwater with a sod roof, mud bricks, concrete slabs, recycled can/bottle wall, strawbale walls, pot plants/green living walls.
June 5th
Now we are really getting stuck into our concept brainstorming. We hear about the information people collected. We decide to build a hexagonal or octagonal shaped cubby with a sod roof. The kids want walls built from recycled cans and bottles or strawbale but we need a load bearing frame and so decide on rammed earth columns with infills of the other types.
Mansfield Primary has received a lot of government funding to build a new hall-come-resource building and our initial site chosen for the cubby will be in the way. Everyone is a bit sad but we looking for another spot and find a less public one near where “everyone plays tiggy and footy” on the bottom terrace of the eastern side of the school. We can get good northern sun and it has deciduous trees to the north-west.
The northern view is not great (facing the back of the ugly footy club rooms and town sporting complex) but it is a good chance to design the cubby with a view to the south and east whilst still getting solar gain in the winter, autumn and spring from the north. The girls vote that this is a better site. The boys on the most part are not convinced but I don’t think we have a choice.
We work out how big we want the cubby to be and check out our shadows and solar aspect with the winter sun.
June 19th
We have been able to use the art room and we get stuck into making models of our cubby – especially the roof. The kids are so enthusiastic and have spent a couple of lunch times doing extra model making. We are also putting together a semi-permanent Eco-Cubby display in the main hallway of the school so everyone can see what we have been doing.
There is a lot to look forward to next term - HOORAY!!
some sensational designs
researching materials
students at the Eco-Cubby site observing the sun and shadows
