Mahinawa School - Education

Client:          Ministry of Education

Project Brief

Mahinawa School is a state owned, coeducational facility catering for students with intellectual, physical, emotional and behavioural disabilities. The new school caters for up to 40 students and has considerably more specific design requirements than that of a standard school.
Mainzeal was awarded the contract to build the school following a traditional tender process, however the project came in over budget so before any construction could begin, a value engineering review was needed. Mainzeal assisted the consultants to identify and assess cost saving options and collectively the team were able to bring the project back on track allowing the project to proceed.
The school is entirely accessible and contained in a single storey block which features a curved floor plan. It includes seven main classrooms, a therapy room, art, music, kitchen and library spaces, as well as staff resources and offices.
All classrooms have built in storage, an accessible bathroom, a kitchenette with roller shutter door and an office. The lower walls are lined with Strandboard and Autex composite panel art boards.
To accommodate wheelchair users, the kitchen classroom is fitted with adjustable sink benches that can be raised or lowered by the user with the flick of a switch.
Another special purpose feature is a ceiling mounted hoist system located in the therapy area. The system provides hoist access to a number of neighbouring rooms so the hoist rail cuts through several door frames.
A central corridor winds through the school and has high level windows providing natural light and ventilation to the internal spaces. Dealing with the curves in the building was a challenge with elements like the door and window liners all needing to be specially manufactured to suit the four different radii used in the design.
The exterior features full height glazing, precast concrete panel walls with a clear ant-graffiti finish, and vertical cedar shiplapped weatherboards. On the north face, a timber slat canopy helps control solar gain in the summer. The interior walls and roof structure are all timber framed.
Recycled aggregate was used in all the concrete work for the project and all the timber was sourced from a Forest Stewardship Council certified source.
The school is naturally ventilated and uses under floor heating. Solar panels mounted on the roof contribute to the heating of water. Lighting controls include occupancy sensors and automatic daylight dimming. A Building Management System is monitoring inputs from items such as the boiler and solar panels and takes data from the electricity, gas and water meters. The information will be used to assist with building tuning.
There was substantial landscaping work around the new Mahinawa School. Special features included a cycle track, a general playground, a sensory playground and an orchard. A stream running through the site was cleared of weeds and the banks replanted with Riparian plants to improve the stream’s ecology. All plants in the landscaping were sourced within a 40km radius of the school, reflecting the project’s focus on using sustainable resources.