 |
| image by Mario Cucinella |
all information from http://www.mcarchitects.it/project/palestine-school
THE PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN MCA AND UNRWA
The Kuwait School in Gaza is the result of the partnership between UNRWA and Mario Cucinella Architects (MCA). The project-design has been developed and refined over a period of two years (2011-13) in close consultation with UNRWA. It has benefited from essential inputs and recommendations by engineers in Gaza Field Office, and by architects in the Infrastructure and Camp Improvement Department in Amman.
 |
| image by Mario Cucinella |
Building Green Futures will coordinate the knowledge transfer components and facilitate the coordination between UNRWA engineers, MCA and a group of companies, which have agreed to provide technical support to the project.
LOCATION OF THE SCHOOL
Once completed, the school will provide an education for 2050 children in the Khan Younis refugee camp which is located about two kilometers from the Mediterranean coast, north of Rafah. It lies West of the town of Khan Younis, a major commercial centre and stop-off point on the ancient trade route to Egypt.
 |
| image by Mario Cucinella |
STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES OF THE PROJECT
The “Kuwait School” in Gaza is a project which intends to address three main strategic objectives:
Provide students in Gaza with a more conducive learning environment resulting from architectural solutions that guarantee better ventilation, insulation and visual comfort;
Ensure equitable and sustainable access to electricity and clean water through green technologies, rain harvesting and water recycling systems;
Encourage the adoption in Gaza of more sustainable building practices through processes of knowledge transfer benefiting UNRWA engineers and Gazan construction sector;
Pilot passive design solutions and green technologies, which, at a later stage, might be mainstreamed in office buildings, schools and health clinics across UNRWA’s five fields of operations.
 |
| image by Mario Cucinella |
ENVIRONMENTAL STRATEGIES
The “Kuwait School” in Gaza is a building with a climate responsive design, capable of maintaining high visual and thermal comfort throughout the year only by means of passive design solutions and simple technologies.
The expected benefits:
In summer classrooms’ temperature is cooled down through thermal mass and natural ventilation.
In winter classrooms are heated by solar powered air conditioning.
Electricity is supplied 24-7 through photovoltaic panels placed on the school roof.
Water demand from municipal network is reduced by 60% through rain harvesting and water recycling systems.
Passive design solutions:
Roof overhangs and vertical panels placed by the classrooms’ windows. Their function is to shade the facades in summer and to increase solar gains in winter. Moreover the corrugated metal sheet (light color) of the roof shades the upper concrete slab and avoids the overheating of the interiors.
The inner green courtyard, the openable windows and the solar chimneys increase natural ventilation and the extraction of exhaust air.
Thermal mass to increase inertia and minimize temperature swing of interiors created by the following structural elements: concrete slabs, concrete pillars with an external diameter of 2,2 mt and an inner cavity filled with excavation ground, earth-brick walls used as partitions between classrooms and as external opaque facades.
 |
| image by Mario Cucinella |
Green technologies:
457 m2 of amorphous photovoltaic cells integrated in the metal roof provide green energy for all electrical devices and lighting systems of the school.
101 m2 of evacuated solar heaters integrated with the metal roof provide hot water for the heating coil located in the technical rooms. The air pipes located beneath the slabs channel the hot air (or the cold air in summer) into the classrooms.
Green technologies for rain harvesting and water recycling:
The roof collects rainwater and sends it to the underground rainwater tank placed in the courtyard. The collected water is then used for cleaning and personal hygiene; Wetlands enable the waste water treatment: the treated gray water coming is used for WC flushing while the black water is used for irrigation.
 |
| image by Mario Cucinella |
CREDITS
Location: Occupied Palestinian Territories, Gaza Strip, Khan Younis
Year: 2010 – current project
Build up area: 3’500 mq
Budget: $ 630 / mq; $ 2’200’00
Partnership: UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East) & MCA Mario Cucinella Architects
Project: Mario Cucinella Architects
Team: Mario Cucinella, Giulia Pentella (architect in charge), Alberto Bruno, Hyun Seok Kim, Michele Olivieri, Luca Bertacchi (photographer), Fabrizio Bonatti (3D model), Luca Stramigioli, Giuseppe Perrone, Rigoberto Arambula, Marco Dell’Agli, Yuri Costantini (model maker), Luca Sandri, Monica Luppi
UNRWA technical staff Gaza and Amman
Environmental design consultants: prof. Brian Ford, Natural Cooling; b&a associati architetture sostenibili
Structural design: Milan Ingegneria Srl
Electromechanical design: Manens-Tifs s.p.a.
Water harvesting system design: artecAMBIENTE srl
3D Renderings: Cristian Chierici-CC79
Prize: Premio Pilosio 2012
Expositions: Design Library, Fuori Salone 2012, Milano; Prototyping Architecture Exhibition 2012-2013, Nottingham & London; The Oslo Architecture Triennale 2013, Oslo
 |
| image by Mario Cucinella |
 |
| image by Mario Cucinella |
