Moe South Street Primary School

A Lesson in Modular Design

One of the first schools with modular walls to benefit from the Victorian Government’s Permanent Modular School Program which aims to remove all asbestos buildings from Victorian schools and replace them with prefab buildings.

Sector: Eduction
Location: Moe, VIC
Products: AIR-CELL Insulbreak

Moe South Street Primary School is one of the first schools to benefit from the Victorian Government’s Permanent Modular School Program.

The program aims to remove all asbestos buildings from Victorian schools and have them replaced with prefabricated buildings.

A far cry from the traditional temporary portable classrooms of the past, the new architecturally designed, modular classrooms are now popping up in schools around the state. The Government’s $200 million investment in the program has enabled schools to move with these more permanent alternatives.

To avoid any disruption to students, staff, or the school term, the characteristics of a modular build are very attractive in education projects. Advance planning and quicker construction times allow for buildings to be erected during school holidays whilst the students are off-site.

“The ability to complete the project within this timeframe is crucial. It is not only about minimising disruption to the classes, but also about avoiding safety risks to the students during construction”, explained Product Sales Manager, Simon Whalen.

It is estimated 100 schools will be erected as part of the program over the next four years, 30 of which have already been completed or are underway and 70 more to come before 2021.

The new research into improving modular buildings for use in schools is expected to pave the way for the future of prefabricated construction in public education in Australia. Research into structural design, thermal performance, and indoor environment quality was carried out before the programs commencement and is improving outcomes already.

Moe South Street Primary School was able to achieve a higher thermal performance with the use of Kingspan’s AIR-CELL Insulbreak.

The thermo-reflective flexible insulation was installed around the walls of the building, in place of traditional non-reflective sarking.

The use of AIR-CELL Insulbreak in this application was able to increase the overall thermal performance of the building. The product’s flexible nature also meant it was able to be installed offsite, working to the benefit of the modular design.

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The accessibility and ease of modular buildings has particularly benefited rural regions. These areas have previously found their limited access to labour forces meant conventional builds were inaccessible to them.

“Being able to install the AIR-CELL off-site saves on labour costs and time at the point of construction; both of which are crucial factors in any education project and contributed greatly to the success of the Moe South Street Primary School project”, concluded Whalen.

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