The new education centre in the grounds of Bishop Cornish School, Saltash will provide music facilities, before and after school care, nursery provision and also provide facilities for community use, especially for music, education and charity work. A major objective in building the new unit was to reduce our carbon footprint and transport costs and pollution. The trustees commissioned a design from a Cornish firm for an attractive innovative building, that is eco-friendly, using local materials and expertise. The build has been a wonderful educational experience enabling the children in the primary school to witness at first hand how to build an exciting building using local materials, local labour, and self help, reducing carbon footprint. The unit is designed by a Cornish firm, Arco2 from Bodmin, on sustainable principles, using as many natural, organic materials as possible. Unique aspects of the educational unit include:
- Local Cornish sheep’s wool (for insulation).
- Local Cornish timber.
- Local straw bale walls (for insulation and sound proofing) from a local farm.
- Local Cornish marble for flooring.
- Heating will be provided through a ground source heat pump with under floor emitters.
- There are further plans for active solar collection for domestic hot water supply and power generation
- Local Cornish wood for construction and cladding.
- The roof tiles are made as far away as Plymouth (9 miles) from recycled tyres and plastic bottles.
- The living roof (for insulation and for environmental habitats) installed by manpower from HMS Raleigh (Torpoint, Cornwall).
- The toilet flooring is made from jute and linseed oil.
- Recycled ‘grey’ water to save on water costs and conserve water.
