Award

70 | A PR IL 2019 Junior School – White Rock Christian Academy PHOTOGRAPHY BY UPPER LEFT PHOTOGRAPHY/COURTESY OMICRON Junior School – White Rock Christian Academy by LAURIE JONES W hen the White Rock Christian Academy was built 35 years ago for 150 students as part of the White Rock Christian Fellowship, it may have been hard to foresee the explosive growth of the city, let alone the school population. Today, with a K-12 student population of over 600, the need for a new school was critical. "We have wait lists from kindergarten to grade nine for next year," says David Michel, head of school. Part of the popularity of the school is the International Baccalaureate (IB) program, helping students develop thinking and problem-solving skills, while working collaboratively, mak- ing it a very creative environment. "It's also important to note that many par- ents want their children to go here because we're a Christian school and with the IB program, they know their children will get a quality Christian education," he explains. Michel says Phase 1, the Junior School, was completed last year, and Phase 2, the Senior School, has begun with an antic- ipated move-in date of 2021. "The Junior School is a brand-new building and not physically connected to the old school," says Kevin Hanvey, principal at Omicron. "The entire school needed new facilities but the Junior School was initially where the great- est need was. Collectively, we decided it would have more punch for the school community if we created an important rallying point for the entire school. To address that, we added a double band room and double art room. So it's not purely for the smallest students on campus, it's for the entire school use." The atrium, one of the featured focal points of the new school, is located off the main entry. "The atrium is the largest gathering space on the prop- erty and serves as an enclosed town square for the whole school," says Hanvey. "It has a double-storey curtain wall window that faces west to the play- ing area and beyond the school site to Semiahmoo Trail, a green walkway/bike path that runs through South Surrey." The exterior of the building also has a wow factor, with a pixelated pattern of cladding with vibrant shades of blue to reflect the school colours and crest. "When the entire school is done, there will be approximately 90,000 square feet of space," says Hanvey. Jaclyn Donald, project manager at Turnbull Construction Project Managers, says that while the Junior School was being built, students were in portables and there will be a rotation with the senior students to portables when that section is being built. "The inclusion of natural light was very important and all of the classrooms have similar glazing," she says. "If you're standing in the centre of the school, you can see through to the outside at the north and south ends of the building." Donald adds the band room, with an optional dividing wall, features cir- cular acoustic pads that hang from the open ceiling. "We brought in an acous- tic consultant to make sure the sound wasn't travelling down the hallway to the other classrooms, and the room has a very good sound system." One special addition to the budget for the White Rock Christian Academy was brand new musical instruments. "David Michel made it clear he wanted the school to be known for music, so we made adjustments in our budget for new instruments, but did not cut corners anywhere. The band teachers were excited to have that opportunity for the students," says Donald. The build was not without chal- lenges, specifically because the entire school is set on only four acres. Finn Madsen, project manager, Double V Construction, says, "It's a very small site and most of the parents deliver the children and pick them up at the end of the day, so when the parking lot is full we are limited with what we can do in terms of moving vehicles or other com- pleting aspects of building." He adds the new building will have an under- ground parkade in roughly the same size as the Junior School. With the school field used for housing portables, landscaping was minimal, but elements in the court- yard's play zone brought some interesting visuals to the project. "The outdoor landscape space is comprised of a hard, urban courtyard, with tactile pavers to provide opportunity for hor- ticultural learning, and informal court games," says Mark van der Zalm, prin- cipal, VDZ+A. A LOCATION 2265 – 152nd Street, Surrey, B.C. OWNER/DEVELOPER White Rock Christian Academy PROJECT MANAGER Turnbull Construction Project Managers Ltd. ARCHITECT/ STRUCTURAL/MECHANICAL/ ELECTRICAL CONSULTANT Omicron GENERAL CONTRACTOR Double V Construction Ltd. LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT VDZ+A TOTAL SIZE 30,000 square feet TOTAL COST $13 million FM36784.indd FM36789.indd

• Cover