This structural modelling allows the specifically shaped walls and ceiling to carry the building’s wind loads. “We unloaded the necessary structural capacity of the building by about 30 per cent, which also made it between 25 and 30 per cent less costly,” Heenan says.
The roof design forms a protective shell around the entire building, stopping 1.3 metres short of the ground, acting as a fire-deterrent skin. Its shape deflects tree debris, which collects on the ground alongside an in-ground rainwater gutter beneath a filtering stone garden. The integration of roof and walls without traditional gutters extinguishes fire hazard concerns, allowing the hall to nestle deeply within a clump of trees.
End-wall wind bracing made up of floor-to-ceiling steel rectangular hollow sections is visually unobtrusive. The roof cantilever on the northern end is a neat touch, acting as a proscenium arch for the children to play out their evenings amidst the glow of an impressive fire pit.