Marienlyst School, Drammen

Project description

Marienlyst school lies centrally in Drammen adjacent to Marienlyst Sports Park, with many large sports facilities including a gymnasium and Drammen swimming pool. Drammen City Council required a compact city school which would safeguard the school´s main vision of “heath, wellbeing, physical education, enjoyment and mastery”. The school was originally planned as a low-energy building, but the decision to comply with the passive house standard was made after construction works commenced. Marienlyst school is connected to a communal low-temperature local heating network.

The outdoor areas of the school are of limited size because of the central location, but an existing park to the south is a natural part of the outdoor area with a terrace and wooden amphitheatre. The building opens towards the park and the street.

The building is formed as a simple volume where all functions are collected in one three-storey building. The school has a capacity of about 500 pupils within a total area of 6500 m², resulting in approx. 12 m² per pupil.

The first floor is partially dug into the ground and includes a large assembly room with space for the whole school. The changing rooms, special functions and a library are also located on this level. The second floor contains another communal space with a café, teacher´s workspaces, administration offices and special functions. The third floor is largely made up of compact pupil areas and group rooms. The architectural expression uses contrasting materials and a variation between clear and opaque surfaces in a simple and efficient manner.

Low carbon strategies

The school was one of the first projects in FutureBuilt. The total greenhouse gas emissions for the planned building were calculated to 37kg CO2-eq/m² per year, against a calculated reference building of 35kg CO2-eq/m² per year. The calculations show that greenhouse gas emissions connected to transport and energy use are reduced, while the emissions from material use have risen. The planned net energy needs have been reduced by 43 per cent compared to the reference building, and after 3 years in use the net energy needs have been reduced by 61 per cent.

The developer had high energy ambitions for the project. Passive house level is achieved through increased insulation, higher requirements for airtightness, reduced cold bridging and well-insulated windows. A building physicist was commissioned to calculate U-values and cold bridging values for all building surfaces. During construction higher standards of airtightness were required, and tested many times in the building process. Only small adjustments of the technical systems were necessary.

The heating requirement of the building is low due to high insulation levels (roof 530mm, walls 350mm), good windows (U-value 0.8), minimal cold bridging and a low air leakage factor (0.6). The building has water-borne heating, and an exceptional heat recovery system with an efficiency of 86 per cent. The cooling needs of the building are reduced by, among other things, a low window area (12.8 per cent of heated area), good external sun shading (automatic blinds) and a higher sun factor in the roof windows than normal.

The greenhouse gas emissions from material use were not considered in the project, a fact that is reflected in the emission calculations. The primary structure consists of steel beams, hollow core concrete elements and a lightweight roof. The school was originally planned to be clad in wood, but the developer chose brick cladding in the lower areas and a light render on the cantilevered areas of the third floor and sections of the second floor for maintenance reasons.

The parking norm for Marienlyst school suggested a requirement of 100 parking places. To reduce the use of private cars, only 35 spaces have been constructed, resulting in a coverage of 35 per cent. This has resulted in a larger proportion of public transport and bicycle transport compared to the reference building, and gives a reduction of emissions from transport of about 2.5 per cent.

Key Figures

Project Information