New works at Sandy Bay Infant School have created an environment that is fun, functional, hospitable and a showcase for sustainable design: the School has basically been re-invented using a sustainable design blueprint. Constraints, in particular, a limited budget, were turned to advantage with all elements of the design serving multiple functions – the extra cost of elevating the new areas of construction was offset by the consequent cost-free creation of a covered wet weather play area; the abutting of the new wing against the existing school building provided a cost-free thermal buffer to eliminate excessive solar heat gain and glare within existing classrooms; and re-planning of the school allowed new spaces to be devoted to maximum use functions (such as classrooms), with refurbished spaces used for functions not requiring fulltime occupation such as a new school hall and service spaces.
