"TELL ME ABOUT THE FOREST YOU ONCE CALLED HOME"...
A "School of tomorrow" recognized beyond the borders
The Rimouski school, co-designed with the educational, citizen, entrepreneurial and scientific community, has become a "reference" in the educational history of Quebec. The partnership established between the team of "Innovative Learning Environments" of the University of Jyväskylä in Finland, and the team of BMWR architects from 2019, has allowed to accelerate and transfer here the best practices proven in a country recognized for its avant-gardism. The quality of the appropriation, the contextualization to our Quebec realities, the support of UQAR, contributing to the creation of this living-lab, have led to a regional craze that has borne fruit. This school was initially conceived to weave links with the community, sharing, ecology ... in addition to being a model of new pedagogy. Its architecture still exudes luminosity, biophilia, originality, nature... and therefore life! The design of its large, swaying roof was intended to be a powerful topographical metaphor. It featured three herbaceous courtyards, instilling play and pleasure, which are always animated by its slopes in all seasons, to the delight of children. Themed, they continue to introduce children to permaculture in a playful way. Researchers find an open-mindedness of the educational team and the families, allowing them to always pursue this never-ending subject "Thinking about tomorrow's school".
Remarkable and inspiring places
Maxime, 16 years old, now in secondary 5 at Paul-Hubert, realizes how lucky he was: "I really enjoyed attending my elementary school. I didn't realize at the time, but everything was different from what was happening elsewhere. With that big atrium at the entrance and the huge pole trees, I remember the first thing I would do was go to the kitchen and eat Grandma Theresa's good muffins. It smelled great, and on nice days, we could go make crumbs on the terrace overlooking the forest! The library bleachers encouraged us to go up and down the steps, it was great! I don't think I've ever read as much as I did during those years!"
Sophie, now at Cégep de Matane, adds, "It was amazing not to talk about class anymore but about our learning community. In fact, it was a family of 4 classes, we did many projects and activities together in the collaborative section. The most amazing thing was all the furniture that unfolded, opened, and the curtains that allowed us to isolate ourselves in small groups. As a loner, I enjoyed going to a lot of places called "cocoons" to be alone for a while. My favorite cocoon was in the spaces under the bleachers, where I liked to play whale songs... This secluded area near the locker room looked like a wiggling snake, with many bellies camouflaging as many caves. It was magical!"
A committed teaching staff
Lucie, now director of the living lab, remembers the momentum: "Our new school brought us, well beyond the bright, creative, flexible and poetic spaces that we were able to co-design with the architects and engineers after the competition in 2020, the possibility to work differently within the school team. Finnish experts listened to us and also taught us a lot about the collaborative and innovative methods that everyone was talking about but that, in concrete terms, we didn't necessarily know how to apply. On this point, the architects were very generous in supporting us in our vision, making the possible feasible. If only to rethink the design of the locker rooms and their efficiency, especially in winter. We knew the realities of our business and the rhythms of our daily lives. They simply fortified them into a coherent spatial transcription and tangible materiality. In short, they helped us weave this seam between architecture and pedagogy."
Richard, still a sixth grade teacher, says: "My favorite place to think about my lessons is still early in the morning, facing the forest, in a comfortable armchair: the tranquility of the place and the contemplation of a preserved nature bring me serenity. I teach the children everywhere: in the forest classroom, at the cattail pond, even on the teachers' terrace when the sun turns west! We use the nests in the atrium a lot, which we associate in the geography class with "floating moraines", explaining the deglaciation of the Lower St-Lawrence and the creation of the Rimouski geological terraces, well symbolized by the omnipresent steps. Each time, I love to tell them the beautiful history of our region where we feel like we are back 15 000 years ago! We were still under miles of water and ice!"
A community that is truly a partner and beneficiary
Denis, retired forester, 70 years old, still active: "When I was asked to give talks to explain the secrets of the forest, I was proud to see the wide eyes of the children when they heard my stories of squirrels and magic roots... Despite my age, I still love to come every Wednesday and Friday afternoon to start and maintain the bread oven fire. When Annie from CoLabo Culinaire has finished her gluten-free bread demonstration, we take turns transferring the coals to the fire in the classroom, then watching over it until all the daycare kids are gone. Parents often come to chat: it's also a good time to relax after their work day. Sometimes we even offer mulled wine in the winter!
Marie-Josée, mother of 2 youngsters, one of whom is still at this school: "We have always been very present and available to participate in the life of the school. But what has completely changed is the fact that, thanks to the neighborhood association that manages the opening of the school to the community, the gym, the yoga classes that I give on Thursday evenings, we really feel like one big family. When Ricardo comes to demonstrate cooking seasonal vegetables and the art of preparing leftovers once a year, the bleachers are full!"
(Competitor's text)
(Unofficial automated translation)
Stage 1:
The merit of this proposal lies in the mood, movement and call to exercise. The forms blend into the setting both outside and inside the school. The sketch is crisp and the large amplitude of the southwest entrance creates a pleasant sense of welcome. The inspiration of the trees is emphasized, as is the invitation to community.
The jury notes the good organization of the plan with the judicious distribution of spaces. Recommendations are made on the materiality of the whole. The bleacher, which plays its role as the heart of the building, is a strong point of the proposal and its extension from the interior to the interior is highly appreciated. The jury also underlines the relevance of the concentration spaces.
Recommendations
Location and access
The implementation on the site must pay particular attention to the issues of circulation and access. The parking lot, designed in three levels to follow the topography, must be reviewed. The school's desire is to reduce the proposal to 65 parking spaces.
The positioning of the gymnasium creates a welcoming access sheltered from northeast winds, facing south.
Roof
The complex roof structure needs to be reviewed and the designers are challenged to consider rooftop cultivation. Also, permaculture due to the current north facing positioning seems unrealistic.
Simplicity sought
The project is rigorous and operational. The qualities of the entrance and the heart play well their functions of reception, good for the social quality generated, and must be maintained in the second proposal, but the designers are invited to more simplicity. The heart is quite spectacular with its posts imitating trees and skylights, but too visually loaded, the architectural language should be reviewed. The jury invites restraint in spatial expression as well as in plan. The space seems very vast and needs to be purified, as it refers to the effects of a station hall, a reference not desired by the jury.
Architectural treatment
The contrast between the architectural treatment of the gymnasium and the rest of the building needs to be reworked to seek a better overall integration.
The floating roof raises questions about the junctions with the neighbouring parts. The concept is attractive, but also requires a simplification and a more thorough study to achieve it.
Interior fittings
There is a lack of understanding of the circulation in the school and the repositioning of the changing rooms is necessary. Classroom contact with nature appears to be exclusively visual, and the jury would like to see access to the outdoors considered.
The eight preschool classrooms are not consolidated as three classrooms will be on the other floor. It is requested that all preschool students be combined, if not grouped into families of 4 classes. Designers should consider the possibility of an upstairs entrance that is reserved for preschoolers.
The jury calls for thought to be given to the child care facility. It is difficult to identify in the proposal and the capacity of the space is questioned. It should be noted that the majority of the children will be eating lunch there since a very high proportion of the parents are active in the labour market. It is expected that two lunch periods will follow each other.
Relationship of indoor and outdoor facilities
The bleacher could potentially continue outside, toward the school entrance rather than on the southwest side. Some of the bleachers would then be under the courtyard, a definite advantage that would encourage its use in less than ideal weather.
Cost Control
The jury expressed concern about construction and operational costs, including significant heating costs.
Materiality
It would be beneficial to reduce the elaborate presence of wood and to simplify the set of elements seen as too talkative. The purification will invite calm. The question of soundproofing is also raised and the choice of absorbent surfaces is to be preferred.
Stage 2:
On the whole, the jury appreciates the implementation of this proposal which allows a clear conceptual reading of the insertion of the building to its site. The attention paid to the exterior design also contributes to the clarity of the gesture. The main entrance, directly overlooking the central core and the bleachers, facilitates the reception, the legibility and the appropriation of the place. Inside, the grouped, almost square, shape of the classrooms around the central core generates a proximity that is conducive to exchanges and community activities. This space is also attractive because of its visual openings, its structure evoking trees and the omnipresence of wood and natural light coming from the high windows all around. The organization of the various programmatic elements of the Lab-School is clear and compelling. The learning community, with the space for collaboration and concentration, is very well understood. Also, the idea of the tree-closet is evocative and convincing to the jury. The jury also appreciates the compact aspect of the proposal, which does not extend in a pronounced way, thus accentuating the unifying aspect of the project.
In addition, the jury appreciates the following elements:
+ The position of the gymnasium, which generates a reception area.
+ The easy access to the locker rooms for each cycle.
+ The functionality of the relatively compact and cost-effective plan.
+ The appropriateness of the organization of the program.
+ The environmental value of the project, which is in line with the values promoted by the school board and appreciated by the community.
+ The cut that takes advantage of the natural slope of the site, with its terraces and habitable cavities below.
However, the jury expresses reservations about the following:
+ The blind wall of the gymnasium which faces the street and thus contradicts the desire to open the school to the neighbourhood.
+ The volumetry, which presents certain compositional problems.
+ The complexity of the roofs, which raises concerns about water drainage and snow accumulation.
+ The boundary created with the courtyard to the south for the elementary grades, which requires several steps to access it.
+ One classroom (224) on the second floor does not have a layout that provides access to a learning community.
+ The difficulty of appropriating the eating space for small groups, which is too large for the scale of the child.
+ The lack of small-scale spaces that allow for moments away from the whole. For example, the treatment of transitions and thresholds with a certain thickness between the collaborative spaces and the heart of the school would have allowed for a better adequacy of the spaces with this Lab-School must.
+ The jury has doubts about the acoustics of the volumes created in the central space and those adjacent to it.
(From jury report)
(Unofficial automated translation)
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