Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/109465
renderings courtesy Graham Hoffart Mathiasen Architects University Hill Secondary School by Stacey McLachlan nspired by a trip to the forwardthinking High Tech High in California and the innovative work of architectural firm Fielding and Nair, University Hill is a school that celebrates the modern philosophy of ���21st Century Learning Principles,��� explains Peter Pratt of Graham Hoffart Mathiasen Architects. ���Students are given problems and look at it from different disciplines. This called for an architectural response. We laid out the rooms so that it responds to the students needs: more open space, more flexibility.��� An old 6,619-square-metre National Research Council bunker received a huge makeover and a 5,642-squaremetre addition in order to create enough space to meet the educational needs of the University Property Trust���s growing population. The two-storey building is constructed from a structural steel frame, with concrete flooring on top of the steel deck floor. ���The new addition was designed using the same structural system as the existing,��� says Julien Fagnan of structural consulting firm Fast & Epp Structural Engineers. ���But because the open plan learning concept required fewer traditional corridors, the placement of lateral bracing elements was more challenging.��� Pop-up roofs were used to create ���complex diaphragms for lateral design.��� ���It���s not a hallway with lockers,��� says Pratt, describing University Hill���s modern twist on traditional high schools. The upper level walkway opens up to the floor below, revealing semi-open spaces lined with interior windows. Sliding walls and garage doors convert intimate meeting spaces into sprawling meeting halls, allowing kids and teachers to customize the environment to the best fit for groups of four or crowds of over 60. Plenty of natural light and a minimalist white palette within the building give the space a visual fluidity. ���The institutional look is gone,��� I 98/��� ��� February 2013 p98-99UniversityHill.indd 98 says Kelly Isford-Saxon, project manager, Vancouver School Board Planning and Facilities. ���Rooms are clustered around a central commons area, and furniture is moveable to support this creation of spaces within spaces. Teachers no longer are assigned a classroom but are grouped together in collaborative office spaces which supports staff involvement. The environment has a more post-secondary feel to it.��� When University Hill reopened in January, students had more than just new classrooms to explore. There���s a fitness studio and dance studio. Formal stairs open into a performance space, a grand, central location perfect for assembling a class, performing a play or screening a film; the glass rotunda is easily transformed to a display for students��� art. Soon, an outside partner will open up the school���s canteen. The roof has been outfitted for future use as a green space and solar energy collector. University Hill���s big, bright gym is a point of pride for the school and the community. ���Things don���t grind to a halt at 3:00,��� says Isford-Saxon, explaining that the gym will be available for use after school hours. ���The gymnasium has glulam and steel trusses, along with the extensive glazing, to provide the school district with a facility that is functional and esthetically pleasing,��� says Dan Sadler, construction manager with PCL Constructors Westcoast Inc. ���It���s a great learning environment.��� And a well-lit one at that: the gym is one of the first public schools in the province with LED lighting. The LEED Gold building relies heavily on sensors to use resources efficiently. Occupancy sensors in each room control light and heating. A public energy dashboard monitors consumption to educate students. ���By immersing students in this thinking, we hope it becomes influential,��� Isford-Saxon says. The school will run a composting program alongside recycling, continuing to function sustainably even after construction has stopped. The school���s electrical wiring is state-of-the-art. ���The lighting is fully dimmable, and we���re doing daylight harvesting in almost all the rooms,��� points out electrical consultant John Jarvis of Jarvis Engineering Consultants. ���All the lighting is tied into the BMF building management system to maximize lighting efficiency and reduce maintenance costs.��� Material choices played a role in achieving LEED status as well: Fly ash was used in the concrete, and the steel incorporated recycled content. Natural and native plants were used where possible outside, and the project���s landscape consultants retained many of the existing trees. The focal point of the design though, is the six-metre-wide path linking the commercial centre to the school. ���We���re hoping the kids will bike to school ��� it���s the perfect space for it,��� says Michael Patterson, principal at R. Kim Perry & Associates Inc. A space on the south side is reserved for a soccer field, with plenty of space for spectators on the sidelines. On the north side, rainwater is collected into naturalistically planted detention channels, creating ponds in the winter and rain gardens in the summer. Converting a NRC bunker into a useable learning space was a big challenge for the project team. ���The building had not been occupied for approximately eight years, so extensive remedial work had to be done to the existing curtain wall, roofing and metal panels,��� Sadler explains. ���They all needed some work to prevent leakage and extend their lifespan.��� The structure had to be upgraded to meet new codes, and lead paint and asbestos had to be removed with strict environmental consultation. ���There���s a lot of complications that go with merging the old with the new,��� says Jarvis. ���The building was essentially gutted, but we still had the power service to deal with.��� The team had to convert the building���s existing power service from the UBC utilities network to BC Hydro. Though the original starting date of September was delayed due to weather, the project remains on budget. In January, 1,000 students returned to fill the halls ��� and the surrounding neighbourhood ��� with life. ���It���s exciting to place this building in a growing community at UBC,��� says Isford-Saxon. ���It really will become a natural hub as it links into playfields and a community centre. This is truly an exciting time for the Vancouver School Board.��� ��� LOCATION 3228 Ross Drive Vancouver, B.C. OWNER/DEVELOPER School District #39 (Vancouver) GENERAL CONTRACTOR PCL Constructors Westcoast Inc. ARCHITECT Graham Hoffart Mathiasen Architects STRUCTURAL CONSULTANT Fast & Epp Structural Engineers MECHANICAL CONSULTANT JM Bean & Co. Ltd. ELECTRICAL CONSULTANT Jarvis Engineering Consultants Ltd. KITCHEN CONSULTANT Lisa Bell & Associates LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT R. Kim Perry & Associates Inc. TOTAL AREA 132,000 square feet TOTAL CONSTRUCTION COST $39 million University Hill Secondary School 13-01-22 4:05 PM