The Passages
Two questions guided the proposal: how to add a building three times the size of the existing school without eliminating the rural atmosphere and domestic scale of the site; and how to create a stronger collective identity through this new community hub?
The proposed solution is to create a unified whole, fully integrating the existing building. The existing base extends to generate two independent volumes on the first floor, but connected on the second floor. This strategy allows for a common entrance courtyard under a courtyard. The extension of the existing plan to the east forms a linear campus, the qualities of which are reinforced by varied visual breakthroughs and exterior spaces in dialogue with the interior. The rural context is understood as an identifying element of the new school complex.
Spatiality
The proposal creates open spaces that join the existing structures to form a coherent whole. The former school, retaining its civic role on Saint Aimé Street, houses the administrative and preschool spaces. The former gymnasium
is converted into a dining room and kitchen and houses the arts and sciences workshop under a mezzanine. The two-storey extension constitutes the third and final pole of the enfilade.
It houses the sports areas in the basement and the classrooms upstairs, in a raised volume, freeing up the courtyards as much as possible while promoting their interconnectivity. The quieter and more formal teaching spaces are thus grouped together on the first floor, while the more animated spaces are in direct relation to the classes.
These three entities are spatially and visually linked by a linear passage, exterior on the first floor and interior on the first floor. The result is a unified façade with a permeable and welcoming gallery. Large glazed surfaces bring natural light into the classrooms while providing an opening to the surrounding landscape.
The project proposes sober spaces, the school being invested by the child rather than managed by the architecture. The student thus becomes the focal point in this built environment.
Tectonics and materiality
By prioritizing spatial relationships, the result is a simple constructive logic leading to
to material economy, but also to the possibility of future adaptation. The proposal
is in continuity with the existing structures. This complementarity is perceptible both in its organization and in its tectonics.
The project is inspired by the typology of the village school, materialized by the original St. Joseph School, with its brickwork, pilasters, four-sided roof and generous fenestration. The expansion takes up these characteristics in order to meet the new needs of the establishment. Thus, the structural framework of the existing building serves as a canvas and is extended to generate the new framework, following the constructive logic of the current layout.
In order to link these two entities by circulations and interstitial spaces, the proposal reworks certain archetypes of the modern Quebec polyvalent facilities - gallery, courtyard
courtyard, corridor - by extracting their intrinsic qualities and updating them. The result is an architecture that is open to its environment and in continuity with its vernacular context.
Legibility
The proposal is supported by a strong gesture favoring the cohabitation between the school and the community. A typical day could be described as follows:
In the morning, students arrive on foot, by bicycle, by bus or with their parents from St. Luke's Street along the central axis. Staff can use the parking lot to the east and the entrance under the courtyard leading to the locker rooms, or the administrative entrance to the west. Bicycle racks
are available for staff and students at the west end of the walkway. Upon arrival, students may play directly in the front yard or use the covered walkway leading to the courtyard and main lobby. Administrative space is located to the west, near the civic entrance on St. Aimé, and is centralized to facilitate collaboration among staff members.
This large, open and generous lobby houses the primary locker rooms and the beginning of the open-access learning street, promoting student independence upon arrival. They
They then take the main staircase to the second floor, where the learning street continues and branches out into collaborative spaces and classrooms.
At lunchtime, students walk through the linear passageways into the communal kitchen and lunchroom. After lunch, they can go directly to the outdoor classroom or the courtyard when weather conditions permit, or find the locker rooms through the linear passages. This diversity of pathways promotes children's independence and learning by providing opportunities for activities on the learning street.
The art and science studio, located in the center of the project in the former gymnasium, allows students easy access to the shade garden to the north and the vegetable garden to the south. The language and music workshop is located in the basement to minimize its impact on the functioning of the other teaching spaces.
The preschool students have their own access to the west of the gallery, facilitating a separate schedule. They walk through their locker rooms and up the existing stairs to the motor development room and classrooms. At recess, kindergarteners have direct access to a dedicated west yard, avoiding disruption to other classes.
At the end of the day, students attending daycare can move to the large hall, the sports areas and the courtyard.
The central volume of the creative workshops, kitchen and lunchroom can function independently for community activities. Similarly, the main hall and sports areas are easily accessible to the public and can function independently.
independently. The courtyard and central courtyard between these two areas thus reveal a strong potential for far-reaching public space, anchored in
activities of the municipality. One can imagine a public market with products from the adjacent vegetable garden, fairs, etc., at all times of the year.
Landscape
The project is located in a rural context in a strongly agricultural landscape. In this sense, the general layout is inspired by the plain, with the exception of an accident, the slope, modulating this artificial topography. A central axis defines sub-spaces and links the eastern and western poles. A series of punctual interventions create a path of discovery and allow students to
to maintain an active lifestyle. These points in the landscape - playgrounds, outdoor classroom, vegetable garden
- act as gathering places, nuclei for the school and civic community. The landscaping changes with the seasons and provides both active and passive spaces for students.
In the vegetable garden and the orchard, depending on the different crops, the students' interventions take place over three seasons: sowing in the spring, maintaining the crop during the summer and harvesting in the fall. Agriculture and gardening thus become a pretext for learning, involving the children in a collective, productive and temporal process.
(Competitor's text)
(Unofficial automated translation)
STAGE 1:
The merit of this proposal lies primarily in the compactness of the site layout and the promising landscape interfaces between the street and the façade, as well as at the rear of the school.
The jury appreciates the permeability of the project through the site as well as the generosity of the central courtyard which is a strong element of the proposal. The entrances are clearly defined, making the route explicit.
The organization in plan of the learning spaces in the new volume is highly appreciated by the jury. Similarly, the sequence of the children's movements, which leave the day care center at a single point, captures the jury's attention.
Generally, the jury appreciates the audacity of the proposal, but questions the layout of certain spaces.
The scale is very remarkable, the rhythm of the facades embellishes the interface between the courtyard and the architecture gives a very human experience. The composition of the facades allows natural light to enter the interior spaces. Finally, the jury underlines the strategy of unifying the new with the existing by noting the good calibration of the south façade. The party is clear at this level.
Recommendations
In view of the integration, the context and the landscape, the jury calls for a rethinking of the exterior spaces. The work on the vis-à-vis between the two buildings and the landscape interfaces on the north facade overlooking the parking areas must be continued.
The layout would be improved if the sequence of the courtyard, bleachers and dining room were reworked. In the second phase, it will be important to ensure that universal access is provided to all users, day, evening and weekend.
In plan, the spatial relationships and their functionalities have some aspects to improve. The management of dry and wet areas should be worked on. The potential of the space that is given to the locker room to be used as other supportive spaces should also be reconsidered. Although the jury appreciates the learning spaces in the new volume, the feasibility of enclosing the gym should be examined. The jury questions the positioning of certain spaces: locker rooms, dining room, library and workshops in relation to daily movements. The coherence between these spaces and their functionality must be reviewed.
Finally, the jury expects the qualification of the ambiances, both interior and exterior, through the volumetry, the tectonics and the materiality.
STAGE 2:
The strong architectural identity reinterpreting the existing school is an original intention that divides the jury. The jury emphasizes the boldness and originality that sets this project apart. The project presents a volumetric clarity. The colonnade judiciously contributes to the legibility of the whole, in addition to composing a qualitative architectural sequence under the courtyard. The tectonics presented also show a beautiful sensitivity that makes the project sober and elegant. The jury appreciates the management of the entrances, which allows for simple control of dry and wet spaces. The plan presents stimulating learning spaces and evokes well the cohesion of these spaces through the varied scale locations.
In addition, the jury appreciates the following:
+ The thoughtfulness surrounding the siting of the project, which takes into account the neighborhood.
+ The adequacy of the functional links of the program with the student's path proposed in the project.
+ The hierarchy of spaces that allows for good management between the use of public and learning spaces.
+ The visual breakthroughs towards the gymnasium.
+ The opportunity to segment the courtyard to organize varied activities.
However, the jury has reservations about the following elements:
+ The weather conditions of the courtyard in winter.
+ The character of the school which, for some, is more like a high school or a more institutional building and does not correspond to the desired vision of the school.
+ The positioning of the music workshop in the basement is uninviting.
+ The rigidity in the organization of the elements, both architecturally and in the organization of the plan.
+ The path of a student.
+ The provision of natural light.
+ The strategy of embedding the gymnasium worries the jury, since it poses significant technical difficulties with respect to soil conditions (water table nearby), the absence of a storm sewer in the municipality of Maskinongé and the low bearing capacity of the soil.
+ The budget issue is very important.
(From jury report)
(Unofficial automated translation)
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