Between two courtyards
The present proposal constitutes the natural development of the architectural and landscape potential embedded in the sketch submitted in the previous stage. While retaining the main characteristics of the initial project, we have, for this second stage, concentrated our efforts on refining certain aspects. These efforts were turned in particular towards the development of the site's amenities as well as towards a meticulous work of setting up covered outdoor spaces attached to the school. We have also worked to develop master planning, structure learning communities, implement equitably branched classrooms, and integrate engineering systems.
Shaping and materials
Composed as a set of slightly distorted triangular prisms reminiscent of the mountainous Valin Mountains in the distance, the total volume of the school is fragmented into smaller, more human-scale volumes. Also recalling the residential character of the surrounding context, two of the three triangular prisms are also pierced by interior courtyards and terraces, which allow for more natural light while once again reducing the overall scale of the project and favoring its integration with the park and the surrounding built context. A series of canopies and a large courtyard are added to this ensemble. All of these exterior spaces, varied in scale and quality of light, allow the extension of teaching activities to the exterior.
Clad in white aluminum on the roof and upper floors and white pine siding on the first floor, the materiality of the ensemble is reminiscent of the tin roofs and white bard-age of many of the surrounding residential buildings in the city and region. Plunged in the snow in winter, the presence of the school will be relatively discreet while allowing a rich and warm interior to shine through, brought about by the wood, the abundance of natural light and even the artificial light worked accordingly, notably by the installation of a network of suspended lamps. In autumn and summer, the building will be highlighted by the work on the landscape for which it will constitute a real canvas, a receptacle of various shadows according to the seasons and the time of day. The idea of attenuating the materiality of the whole, in addition to its attachment to a regional material context, is also to leave room for the landscape and the interior spaces of the school which are projected there.
The classroom: a network
The classroom is thought here not as an autonomous entity folded on itself, but as a real network of linked and modular spaces. Each classroom is designed in an "L" shape, thus generating a sub-zone that allows various activities to be held in parallel and the Nurture approach to be deployed. Each classroom has a large anteroom with integrated furniture: tables, lamps, display surfaces, bookcases and removable partitions create a space dedicated to calm and concentration. Each classroom has a glass wall on this anteroom in order to situate it in the direct extension of the classroom and to transmit natural light. Each classroom opens to its neighbor through removable panels to link more than one classroom together and strengthen the relationships of the learning community. Each classroom opens to a collaborative and feeding space, which is itself shapeless, flexible and inhabited by a variety of mobile furniture. Each classroom opens to a protected exterior so that an activity developed indoors can be extended there. Each classroom is, in short, intimately linked to a set of spaces that open up a field of possibilities for it pedagogically and that also offers a richness and diversity of spatial experiences.
The courtyard and landscape: from the city to the forest
The exterior landscaping has been worked on on two fronts: on the city side and on the forest side. On the city side, there is a sequence of shared developments including the redevelopment of the playground into two terraces and the addition of a slide in the embankment, the development of the vegetable garden in the axis of the gymnasium courtyard and the enhancement of the soccer field into a lawn. The parking lots are planned within the Henri-Bouras-sa street right-of-way in order to exclude from the school's development any impervious surface dedicated to cars. The composition of the facilities follows the large volumes of the school and offers easy access to the doors and to the large courtyard on the forest side. The vegetable garden area with its pedestal planters and kitchen counter under the courtyard provides a space for education and gathering for the extended community. Beds of blueberries and other native plants provide local color. Along Boily Street, a widened sidewalk allows for street tree planting, the deployment of bike racks, while a counter-sill allows for school bus parking.
The forest side yard is located between the school and the wooded area of St. Joachim Park. It is easily accessible from the landings on Boily and Henri-Bouras streets. A first zone dedicated to the little ones is away from the main facilities for the older ones. There is a colorful garden, a shed and a few structures that enliven the space. The courtyard for the older children unfolds in a landscape dominated by existing trees - all preserved - and by a less rigid layout cut by stone dust surfaces and vegetated areas. A rain garden collects water from a portion of the roofs. A path of logs crosses a flower meadow. Three-dimensional interventions offer places of appropriation and games: the grass mound and the ovoid wooden pyramid frame one of the paths and recall the undulating local landscape. At the end of the courtyard, a wooden portico stands as an invitation to discover the forest.
Use of wood: exterior siding, paneling, furniture and innovative hybrid structure
The use of wood as a sustainable, expressive and identifying material is a basic conceptual premise here. Not only do we propose to use it as exterior cladding on the first level, but we also propose to use it in wainscoting, integrated furniture and exposed structure. Composed of wood arches of varying dimensions and braced by a series of diagonally installed pieces, the structure provides the school with its primary interior texture. At once rhythmic like an upside down ship's hull, it nevertheless offers surprising effects through the integration of diagonals and through the deformation of the roofs. A few light white steel columns are strategically placed to lighten the overall structure and ensure its economic viability.
Supporting concrete slabs cast into a steel deck that acts as a floor for the second floor, the wood structure therefore provides the expected acoustical qualities. Although the arches are also visible on the first floor, it is the ceiling that receives almost all of the electrical and mechanical distribution, leaving the upper floor practically free of constraints and allowing the full extent of the roof slopes on the interior side to be used. This way of thinking about the structure, and more specifically the first floor, remains completely innovative and will be the subject of careful research by the university community.
(Competitor's text)
(Unofficial automated translation)
Stage 1:
This proposal demonstrates a sensitivity in the urban expression and the image it gives off, that feeling of being at home. The mastery of the volumetry, the interior core and the patios that energize the whole are noted as strong elements by the jury. The proposal offers several spaces for outdoor teaching.
This concept proposes a beautiful spatial sensitivity on a human scale. It is likely, and desired, that the project will be able to express variations in its perceptual qualities in the face of climate - particularly through the exterior materiality.
The jury appreciates the potential of the conceptual representation of the plan organized around a central space.
The jury appreciates the gathering core, the collaborative hub in the dining space, the gymnasium that opens to the courtyard. The indoor running track is interesting.
This proposal shows nice potential.
Recommendations:
Siting:
+ The existing tree massifs should be valued and kept as much as possible in the siting and organization of the project volumes.
+ The proposal is poetic in terms of materiality, but the interfaces with the site are not resolved.
The proposal is poetic in terms of materiality, but the interfaces with the site are not resolved. + Regarding the accesses and entrances, the landing should be reviewed. Questions of pedestrian safety are raised. The relationship between vehicles and pedestrians must be better thought out in order to protect and secure the pedestrian. Buses, pedestrians, student entrances, how will this be prioritized?
+ Competitor should encourage and demonstrate that outdoor learning in the courtyard will be possible. Encourage indoor/outdoor contact in relation to extended classrooms in the courtyard (from the classroom to the outside and back).
+ The fenestration should be reviewed in order to find a better match between the plans and the elevations.
+ In addition, the jury asks to specify the relationship to the ground (wood, slope, concrete).
Layout:
+ The hierarchy of interior and exterior spaces should be developed.
+ The sequence of spaces is generally well understood. However, the sequence of circulation from the reception area (with the administration nearby) to the checkroom and then to the classroom is also questioned and requires further study. In addition, the classes and cycles are unevenly treated, to the disadvantage of some. All classes should have the same architectural qualities. In addition, the positioning of the groupings of classes by cycle will have to be reviewed according to the program. Teachers and students will want equity.
+ Learning communities appear to be well organized, but they may be too isolated, and some members of the jury wondered if they were too difficult to locate in the space.
+ The social-emotional space is difficult to locate, reluctantly placed as an orphaned space, it should receive additional attention.
+ The number of learning spaces should be revalidated.
+ Note that gross motor skills cannot be worked on in the running track.
Stage 2:
Overall, the jury likes the sensitivity of the landscape project. Its design evokes a poetry of the seasons that is well articulated with the educational activities. The jury also appreciates the integration of the sports component, which is materialized by the running track and allows the project to be structured, but nevertheless makes the school's operation more complex. The flexibility of the classes also contributes to the richness of the project, especially for the first cycle classes.
In addition, the jury appreciates the following elements:
+ The gathering space in connection with the interior courtyards that bring in a lot of natural light.
+ The flexibility of use that the L-shaped classrooms allow.
+ The fragment of the undergraduate anteroom.
+ The aesthetics of the project, both interior and exterior, which appear soothing.
+ The absence of a corridor in the project.
However, the jury has reservations about the following:
+ The complexity of the spatial organization of the project.
+ The lack of understanding of the purpose of the calming place in its cohabitation with the classes.
+ The students' route, which will cause a conflict in the management of dry and wet areas for all cycles.
+ The tension between places with distinct vocations, i.e. places of concentration that coexist with places of collaboration.
+ The collaboration of the 2nd and 3rd cycles is divided, which does not encourage work by cycle.
+ The distance of the gymnasium from the community area.
+ The project's location, which separates the courtyard into two sections and makes supervision difficult during recess.
+ The Nurture space which, although it should be close to the heart of the project, is too much in the middle of the action compared to its primary function as a refuge from the tumult of school activities.
(From jury report)
(Unofficial automated translation)
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