School buildings built to serve a purpose

A multitude of components must be considered when planning the restoration of a school building, from methods of construction through to the use of sympathetic materials, especially if the building is listed. Traditional buildings make up a quarter of the UK’s existing building stock and school buildings account for more than 5,000 of these in England alone.
    
While built to last, these buildings are often in need of varied levels of refurbishment to maintain an adequate level of occupancy. Restoration of building services in school buildings are common place and there is a complex relationship between building services, energy efficiency, air and moisture movement and the conservation of existing building stock.
    
The Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) has a set of guidelines for organisations seeking to improve the longevity of an existing building which, when put into practice, will make a significant contribution to its practical use. This will preserve the building’s historic fabric and avoid inappropriate and incompatible materials. It will extend the beneficial use of older buildings by avoiding building services that are expensive to run or maintain.
    
Reducing carbon dioxide emissions, using cleaner fuels and increasing the thermal performance of the building are part of the guidelines, as is the need to specify environmentally conscious materials; assess the impact of new materials on the environment and the health of the buildings end users.

Legislation
Since buildings are rarely exactly alike, legislation for the refurbishment of traditional and heritage buildings, including schools, can be as intricate as the character of the building in question. Each building must be assessed individually and if the building is listed, a Historic Buildings Inspectorate may also be needed. There are three forms of statutory protection given to buildings in the UK. These are: scheduled ancient monuments, listed buildings and buildings situated in conservation areas.
    
Prior to any refurbishment work carried out on historic school buildings, steps must be taken to determine whether the building is protected or not and which form of protection it falls into. Consent from your local authority may be required before work is carried out so it is important that this time is accounted for in the planning stages.

Building Regulations
Where there is a need to retain special characteristics of a building, an appropriate balance must be obtained in regards to modern regulations and a sympathetic treatment. Obviously the aim of any alteration is to improve the energy efficiency of a building; however, the risk of destroying the character of the building or long-term use must be taken into account.
    
Although there may be limitations to which Building Regulations can be met while retaining the buildings character, it is still important that opportunities for improvement of services that are available are not overlooked. There is usually a range of possible enhancementsn that can improve a building’s energy efficiency. Careful thought must go into the replacement or alteration of visible characteristics of the building like the windows and doors.
    
Refurbishment work carried out on Norton Park, an old primary school in Edinburgh, saw the restoration of the windows and doors. Most of the original windows were retained and the process of repairing and upgrading included the removal of both internal and external paint, re-roping, new parting beads and batten rods, and the double glazing of all broken, cracked or obscured panes. Where possible, the original doors were kept and repairs were made including paint, new locks and original re-polished handles.

The Design stage
There are four major principles to consider during the design stage of a refurbishment to an historic school building in an effort to minimise potential risk and increase potential benefits. These are to define the reason for repairs, minimise intervention, avoid preventable damage and to seek reversibility and minimise irreversible damage.
    
A significant part of the restoration process is the planning stage as it is vital that mistakes are not made that have irreversible consequences. Historic buildings are finite and cannot be replaced if significant damage is inflicted. Building services that are introduced will need to be assessed for their need against the potential risk of damage or disruption. They should be sympathetic to their surroundings and new work should aim to be reversible so that a building can be reverted back to its original state if required.
    
There are several simple ways of increasing the energy efficiency of a school building in a nonintrusive manner. This can be by installing better controls and management to existing services, changing to better and long-term light sources, keeping proper records and performing regular preventative maintenance.

Re-using existing services
Before any work is done on implementing new systems, existing building services should be examined to gauge their continued value for the school building. It is important to note that existing services are also subject to legislation, meaning all work carried out on removing services in a listed building can’t be done without permission.
    
Re-using services like traditional radiators, lighting equipment and exposed pipework is a great way to save the character of a building and it’s important that, where possible, these should be saved. Old radiators will have to be cleaned, pressure tested and examined carefully to make sure they are still in a safe working condition but unfortunately the value of old radiators is often only recognised once they have been permanently removed.
    
There is danger in re-using old services and the health of occupants must always be first priority when deciding to re-use pipework or electrical wires. Fire can be one of the greatest threats when using old wiring which will not only threaten occupants but the fabric and contents of the building as well.

Modern building services
If the re-use of the pre-existing services are not sufficient there are a large number of modern building services that can be applied to historic school buildings. In some cases, accommodating a school will not have been the intended purpose for the original building. Often, the needs of historic buildings change with time and therefore occupants of the buildings will require differing levels of building services. School buildings are a great example of how a building’s requirements can change and why modern building services can play a key role in improving operation.
    
Some of the most common building services introduced into schools during refurbishment projects included; control systems, security systems, cooling and air conditioning, fire protection (sprinklers), fire detection (alarms) and transportation and disabled access – lifts, escalators and ramps. In some cases some or all of these may not be suitable for historic buildings but typically there will be ways to accommodate the services with careful planning. It is important to strike a good balance between the requirements of the building owner and the needs of the building itself.
    
Finding suitable places for new services without damaging the fabric or structural stability of the building can be tricky. Chasing or notching wiring or pipework into walls can be detrimental to the historic structure and should not be done in important places. Although almost always necessary in this kind of refurbishment work, chasing should be minimised where possible and services fitted into floors or ceilings if the opportunity is there. Using exposed pipework can limit the irreversible damage done to the historic fabric and can provided far easier access for maintenance and inspection. As already discussed, reversible services are desirable and exposed pipework, if done professionally, can maintain an atheistically pleasing appearance.

The Royal Society of Chemistry
Renovation at the Royal Society of Chemistry in London saw new building services installed in the Victorian building. New lighting and air conditioning systems were put in place but were required to be discreet as to not undermine the character of the fine high Victorian interior. This was achieved by placing modified wall mounting air conditioning units in the 900mm void between the joists in the floor between the concrete floor and finished floor level.
    
Building services are a great way to assist the preventative conservation of historic school buildings. Building service engineers should always be consulted when refurbishments to school buildings are carried out, especially when the building is historic or listed. They can assist in prolonging their lives and purpose as well as improving the internal environment and after all, building conservation is a sustainable form of property development.

Further information
www.cibse.org