Ilan Ramon School & kindergartens, Har Homa, Jerusalem
The school building was built in 2010 in Jerusalem by architects Ruth Lahav and Tony Rigg, at the request of Jerusalem city municipality. The building is situated on a very steep topography – There are 22 meters from the highest point to the lowest point. Therefore, the school is divided to three different levels and into two floors. The “green planning” of the school is based on turning the school to south, while adjusting the building to its natural resources, climate and environment. These adjustments give a 40% savings of future expanses of the building’s life cycle, which contributes to a more pleasant and agreeable place for students and staff to stay in.
The design of the five kindergarten classrooms was inspired by the classic children’s story “A Tale of Five Balloons”. Each kindergarten is defined by a different colour: red, yellow, blue, green & purple.
The site of the Ilan Ramon School and Kindergartens has a steep, east facing slope, with a topographic difference between the highest and lowest parts of 22m. The site poses difficult challenges for the design of a “green” school. However, it has extensive open views to the south and east, which the stepped, terraced design takes advantage of.
The site is surrounded with main roads, allowing maximum accessibility, and the separation of entrances: the kindergartens from the south, and the school from the north.
The Kindergartens are planned along a diagonal street on a north-west to south-east axis, to allow for maximal topographical usage and orienting the kindergarten classrooms to the south.
Green planning principles:
– Improved wall insulation and double front insulating glass, which includes a window system that consists of several fields: a fixed window, a sliding window and a kip window with electronic opening.
– The exterior façade is designed using a curtain wall method and includes: a shading system calculated for the four seasons of the year, a “shadow box” between the floors, a “lighting shelf” and a curved interior ceiling to deepen daylight.
-Three departments rated diagonal following the site’s eastern slope.
-Positioning the classrooms facing south.
-Daylight hallways towards the north, with window niches for group activities.
-Northern courtyards for summer activity, and southern patios for winter activity.
-Shelters, stairways, toilets and service areas do not face south.
Energy Conservation Principles:
-Improved wall insulation.
-“Double Facade” with a three-part window system: fixed window, sliding window & “kip” electrical opening window.
-Uses screen wall shadow boxes for heating and includes a shading system.
Alternate Energy Systems:
– “Warm air collectors” system within the curtain wall, activated by thermostat, for heating the classrooms.
– Night ventilation using a differential thermostat, for cooling the building.
Energy-saving:
-School energy saving calculations show savings of 56,000 kWh a year.
Construction initiated:
-Department of Planning and Public Buildings of the Jerusalem Municipality ordered the green and initiated the construction of the school and kindergartens, in light of a request from the Institute of Development Education and Welfare.
-The school was built by the “Mifa’al Hapaes” and is intended to add about 6% of the total construction cost to implement green systems.
