Treloars College
Treloars College, Alton, Hampshire: residences for special needs students
Key Facts
3 one-bed single person flats
2 studio flats
1 staff sleepover
1 common room
1 laundry
Floor area 340 m2
Treloars College is a boarding school providing education for young people with impairments between the ages of 11 and 18. The majority of pupils are wheelchair users and the project was for a new residential building which would encourage the young people to develop the independent living skills which they would need in later life.
Archadia’s response was a two-storey building providing ten independent flats and common areas facing south west to take advantage of solar gain. The production of a sustainable building was an important part of Archadia’s thinking.
The whole structure was highly insulated (walls 0.18, roofs 0.23, floors 0.12) with an NHER rating of 9.5/10. Windows were triple glazed with integral blinds to south facing windows. Solar panels (evacuation heat pipes) positioned on the back of the two-storey sloping roof facing SE provide 75% of the hot water energy.
A central plant room is provided at first floor level with thermal stores and a small domestic boiler. A rainwater storage tank is incorporated in the ground adjacent to the building collecting rainwater from all the roofs and the water is reused for WC cistern flushing.
Under floor heating compatible with the appropriate carpet avoids radiators and allows the most to be made of small rooms. Medium density inner skin block walls allow flexible repositioning of bespoke equipment and provide thermal mass.
Location Map