Completed in June 2012, this 3,300m2 medical centre in central Nelson was designed to meet the client request for a modern, sustainable building.
The three story building shares the site with a separate pharmacy and café, along with landscaping and carparking.
The desire for a low energy design was met through the use of thermal simulation, which was used in a ‘fabric first’ approach to optimise the insulation levels, glazing type and area, and shading using comparative assessments of predicted energy consumption and internal comfort levels. This helped tune a mixed-mode approach using mechanical systems only to augment the work done by natural ventilation and passive design.
Shading design was also optimised to reduce heating and glare, and protect privacy without compromising daylight access.
The building was documented exclusively in Revit 3D, which allowed co-ordination of the building services (complicated in some areas by the strict requirements of various medical standards) and clear production drawings for the contractor.