Palmview State Primary & Special School, QLD

A sustainability award finalist, Palmview State Primary and Special Schools were part of the government’s ‘Building Future Schools Program’.  This program aims to deliver state-of-the-art schools across Queensland.

FKG Group were engaged by the Department of Education for the design and construction of these two schools in collaboration with Mode Design Corp with Louvreclad engaged to design, engineer and install all the louvres and perforated aluminium screens.

Both schools consist of two-story buildings with covered walkways. However, as this was being built on newly developed land, some of the surrounding roads were yet to be established.

FKG sought to optimise key sustainability principles throughout the buildings, with core elements considered for how they would impact on learning and development. Natural ventilation was achieved with multi-level operable windows, shading and louvres to ensure that students were able to learn in a quiet environment with a stable and consistent temperature with minimal reliance on air conditioning.

Mode Design specified Louvreclad Caprice Series® 45mm modular sunhoods and Polaris Series ® perforated aluminium screens throughout the two projects. However, once Louvreclad were engaged the project needed to be value engineered. Through discussions with the builder, it was decided that Louvreclad Scarborough Series® 20mm modular sun blades were a cost-effective alternative, and subsequently the design and engineering process began.

One of the key challenges was the varying sunhood depths and different fixing substrates. To ensure concealed fixings and consistent finish across all sunhoods, Louvreclad had to design and engineer custom bracket supports to suit multiple fixing substrates and cladding types.

The colour schemes across the two developments are bold, with Dulux Duratec Intensity Summer specified for the Scarborough Series® sunhoods on the primary school and Dulux Duratec Intensity Leaf green specified for the Special School. These bright bold colours pop against the almost white Dulux Duratec Surfmist specified for the cladding and Polaris Series® perforated aluminium screens differentiating these two schools.

From 600 to 900mm deep, these sunhoods mitigate glare while ensuring maximum sun protection and optimal conditions in the classroom throughout the day.

Like most schools, the project programme was very tight. Being 100% Australian-owned and sourced, with all design, engineering and fabrication completed in-house, Louvreclad was able to meet the short turnaround time and deliver quality service and workmanship to meet all Department of Education requirements.