The school-garden
Through the values it solicits and engages - solidarity, collective participation, well-being, openness to the natural world and learning - the garden is a strong project and symbol that is relevant to the heart of the school and the community. In the present proposal, the school unfolds around a new and large unifying garden. The holistic space of the school is conceived as a continuation of this garden, as a large interior living garden, offering a lot of light and a significant contact with the exterior spaces. The garden is not only at the heart of the building, but also in the foreground: it is completely open to the main access to the site and becomes the identifying image of the place. By appropriating this living garden that has a memory, the school-community reinforces its sense of belonging, anchors itself in its history.
Location and architectural integration
The very central positioning of the garden and the holistic space, both of which are closely linked, is a response to the "learning community" school model advocated by the program. The entire school faces and opens up to this core garden, an innovative meeting place and learning space. The gathering, dining and collaborative spaces are all strongly connected to the garden by their position, form and materiality; the garden wants to enter the school, just as the school seems to want to enter the garden. The new classroom wing is located in continuity with the existing classroom wing and linked to it by the common area so as to include both in the overall experience of the place. The new classroom wing is deliberately designed in a linear form, in order to harmonize with the spatial organization of the existing classrooms and to draw a path through the school along the student's academic path.
The implementation of the extension expresses the architectural party: it draws a fluid gesture on the site, all in curves, which wants to envelop and invite. This organic form, which also asserts itself in volume, confers a contemporary and friendly image to the main facades of the school.
The rounded movement of the central volume harmoniously links the new classroom wing with the preserved wing. Furthermore, a façade composition sensitive to the existing elements - alignments, dimensions of the window bays, insertion of metal panel transoms, continuation of the existing repainted crown band, clay brick as cladding material - allows for a happy integration of the extension with the architecture of the original building.
Holistic space
The holistic space, the dining room and the bleachers are grouped in a common and continuous layout that offers a lot of flexibility, as one of these functions can overlap the other as needed. The layout is therefore versatile, changeable. The free-form, livable terraces are designed as a playful object and in some places become planting pits. The corridor is an extension of the holistic space, allowing it to be inhabited and crossed on the floor.
The roof of the holistic zone is made of solid wood which, left exposed, brings a lot of warmth and personality to the space, in addition to standing out for its ecological qualities. Skylights piercing the roof provide zenithal light and a view to the sky, reinforcing the link with the outside.
Finally, the project puts forward very strong spatial relationships between the dining room, the kitchen, the double gymnasium, the gathering place and the central courtyard. In addition, the main entrance opens directly into this holistic heart, while the administration and daycare reception are closely linked to the entrance. The kitchen is adjacent to the terrace and offers direct access to the outdoors and a quick link to the vegetable garden. Open to the dining room, it benefits from a privileged location that allows it to actively participate in the life and community spirit of the school.
Concept of the courtyards
Enclosed by a wooded area, the schoolyard as a whole takes the form of a generous clearing within which a succession of landscaped islands are laid out. The circle, an important symbol of the First Nations community, is echoed in the layout, which is articulated around a multitude of circular paths that act as unifying elements of the schoolyard landscape while encouraging the students to explore it.
Specifically, the school surrounds three distinctive zones in the playscape. At the entrance, there is a central courtyard with a unifying garden that connects to the school's community spaces. It is through this courtyard that the main entrance to the school is made, already putting the students and staff in a beautiful vegetal atmosphere. Some of the existing trees are retained and their dense foliage creates a pleasant shaded area and a solar filter for the holistic space, while giving a human scale to the two-story school building. To the west is the courtyard for the pre-school and cycle 1 classes, where a planted tier is created. The current play modules are relocated to the end of this courtyard and act as an attraction. To the east is the courtyard for the 2nd and 3rd cycle classes where a sports field and mounds for climbing are located.
The main vegetable garden is located to the south of the central courtyard in order to maximize exchanges with the community and to benefit from optimal sunlight.
The numerous circular asphalt paths can become a place for graphic expression in chalk, a track for scooters, places for walking, running and playing. Also, these multiple paths encourage exploration and physical activity.
The parking lot and bus drop-off are positioned on either side of the lot to free up the heart of the courtyard and allow for a safer and more distinctive arrival for pedestrian and bicycle traffic. The main entrance is particularly inviting, as it is very green and away from vehicular traffic. Openings in the vegetation along the paved areas allow snow to be pushed from the snow removal to create mounds in the east and west yards of the school.
The outdoor classroom courtyard serves as a threshold to the school's sports area. It is protected by the planting of trees and shrubbery islands surrounding the most active games in the yard. The whole is designed on a human scale and in transitional sequences.
Classes
The present project's choice is to locate the kindergarten classes in the existing wing that has been preserved in order to maintain the location and the link with the current courtyard for the little ones - a courtyard that is more intimate and less conducive to the development of a sports field for the older children. The pre-school classes have independent access to this playground. They are equipped with independent changing room blocks with storage and toilets shared between two rooms. Small bleachers that encourage movement are provided in the classrooms to offer an interesting variety of learning areas.
The new Cycle 2 and 3 classrooms have been designed in an "L" shape to allow for flexible teaching approaches, with shared spaces and areas for concentration. Storage furniture integrated at the bottom of the windows also creates interesting tiers at the scale of the classroom and the child.
(Competitor's text)
(Unofficial automated translation)
Stage 1:
There are several qualities to this proposal that should be noted. The emphasis on the exterior courtyard and the simplicity of the solution are strengths.
The school's image from the outside and inside is pleasant and welcoming. The entry path to the school is welcoming.
The generous holistic area and broken corridors creating the collaborative spaces provide interesting views. The orientation is appropriate and the positioning of the preschool students to the west is necessary.
The jury notes the interest in the pathway to the central space, it is an interesting element of the proposal that invites to the outdoors with great ease.
The physical activity is favored in this project with small routes through the green spaces that inspire calm and relaxation. The jury underlines its appreciation for the repositories of sports equipment that greatly facilitate physical education, as well as overall, the adoption of a healthy and active lifestyle in the school.
Recommendations
Implementation
The layout should be reviewed to take into account the easement. In this sense, the exterior courtyard must be revisited.
Architectural Party
The jury would appreciate that the integration of the old and new parts be thought through as a whole. The two parts deserve to be reconciled more and the use of the new part reserved for graduate students should be questioned.
Design
To facilitate the reception of visitors, the positioning of the main entrance must be reviewed. The administration and the secretariat should be strategically positioned in this important (southeast) area of the school. In the current proposal, it is located far from the action! The entrance needs to be reworked. The designers will also need to consider the integration of independent locker room areas into the new wing.
The new wing with classrooms in a row is classic. There would be sufficient space to allow for openings that would help break down this traditional feeling.
The classroom layout will need to take into consideration the recommendations of the Lab-School both in the program and in the publication (anti-classroom, flexibility of subspaces, etc.).
Similarly, the jury wonders: would it be possible to open up more of the spaces accessible to the community and their access from outside?
The current vocation of the double gymnasium must be maintained with its dual vocation for the performing arts. For more flexibility, the connection between the gym and the holistic space should be increased. These play areas are rather isolated from the common areas. Significantly widening the courtyard would bring the gyms closer to the central courtyard.
The jury also points out the lack of connection of the kitchen - not integrated and closed in on itself - with the holistic space and the dining room. Could it open up and become a learning space where students learn to cook and develop their tastes? The little cooks are waiting for it!
Integration
In terms of interior design, the big question will be how to integrate the two wings and avoid the feeling of inequity between the groups (the old part versus the new part).
In terms of architectural expression, at the budgetary level, the idea of redoing the facade is a concern. Both on the exterior and the interior, the question remains: how to make the two wings cohabit harmoniously in a desired more harmonious whole?
Stage 2 :
Overall, the jury appreciates the simplicity of the layout of the new section of the school. The two wings, extending onto the neighbourhood, are inviting and convey the vision of a school open to the community. This implementation is also interesting in terms of the atmosphere produced in the courtyard. The jury clearly distinguishes the children's area from the older children's area. It also emphasizes the contact between the interior and exterior spaces. The design principles of the Lab-École learning spaces are also well integrated into the project. The relationship between the classrooms and the concentration and collaboration spaces provides a diversity of places to learn. Finally, the jury has a good understanding of the layout adapted to the different cycles, which offers a great deal of flexibility in terms of population fluctuation.
In addition, the jury appreciates the following aspects:
+ The redevelopment of the existing wing that forms varied learning spaces.
+ The attention paid to the locker rooms and the effect this will have on daily life.
+ The position of the central space that forms the heart of the project.
+ The face-to-face relationship between the new classroom area and the old section, which provides visual contact to reinforce the sense of community in the school.
However, the jury expresses reservations regarding the following elements:
+ The projected image of the proposed school in terms of its character and scale, particularly in its facades, which carries high school connotations.
+ The size and configuration of the central space which presupposes a centralization and concentration of activities. The appropriation and scale of this space raises concerns about the diversity of activities that will take place at the same time. Other concerns are raised about the support of educational activities and the concentration of noise that concurrent activities might imply.
+ The location of the concentration spaces in the new classrooms of the expansion would have benefited from being oriented towards the interior and not towards the exterior walls, to maximize natural light in these spaces and limit distractions.
+ The collective spaces that are partly summarized by the large gesture of the heart to the detriment of the rest of the school.
+ The tier whose form acts more like furniture, when it could have established a playful link between the first floor and the first floor.
+ The footbridge does not seem to participate sufficiently in the connection of the significant places.
+ The cultural dimension of the school is difficult to perceive.
+ The library space which does not seem to be treated.
+ The planned bus route.
(From jury report)
(Unofficial automated translation)
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