Fenner School of Environment + Society
Australian National University
The award winning project for the new School of Environment and Society has achieved Canberra's first 6-star green star rating for both design and construction - making it the ACT's greenest building.
The site was treated to promote natural drainage principles, allowing for detention of runoff from site during rain events, permitting slow percolation into the soil levels. A series of permeable swales and rain gardens collect, direct and detain water. In times of peak flows water can collect in the constructed wetland.
The central courtyard contains a paved space linked to the seminar room and the western wing of the proposed building. There are two depressions which hold runoff from rain events, acting as rain gardens and allowing for slow percolation into the soil. The water tank overflow is piped under the paved space, to run into the swales and wetland.
The western garden to the Daley Street frontage contains a perimeter drainage swale, taking runoff that reaches the site from Linnaeus Way. The drainage sale is piped through headwalls and a culvert under the western access to the building.