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J U LY 2 0 2 0 | 69 Holy Trinity High School Modernization & Solar Addition R EN D ER I N GS CO U RT E SY B R 2 A RC H I T EC T U R E LOCATION 7007 28 Avenue NW, Edmonton, Alberta OWNER /DEVELOPER Edmonton Catholic School District ARCHITECT BR2 Architecture GENER AL CONTR ACTOR Graham Construction STRUCTUR AL CONSULTANT BPTEC Engineering MECHANICAL CONSULTANT Arrow Engineering ELECTRICAL CONSULTANT AECOM TOTAL SIZE 125,687 square feet TOTAL COST $34.7 million P ublic school modernization is often an opportunity to breathe life into a utilitarian struc- ture. But the Edmonton Catholic School District's Holy Trinity High School modernization was an entirely unique proposition. Steven Bushnell, senior partner at BR2 Architecture, explains, "The school had been designed by Douglas Cardinal in the 1980s and exhibited his fondness for outward-leaning can- tilevers. So our job was to preserve his vision and yet add considerable new floor space." The project was essential: all high schools under Edmonton's public and Catholic school districts are forecast to be full by 2022, and by 2018 Holy Trinity already had 1,000 students even though the facility was designed for 700. The project would accommodate 500 new students in 14 new class- rooms; it would also replace the mechanical, electrical, and fire alarm systems, and modernize the science wing, cafeteria, foods lab, student services department, and the stu- dent learning commons. A second full size gymnasium would be built, plus infrastructure for solar panels. Many stakeholders credit a bureau- cratic shuffle for the project's success. "When we first toured Holy Trinity in 2016, Cathy Nissen was its principal," says Bushnell. "Subsequently Cathy became the deputy supervisor of facil- ities and was very involved in our design process. She literally knew the building inside and out." Douglas Cardinal had designed Holy Trinity as a graceful crescent- shaped masonry structure, with the second floor cantilevered over the first. "Designing additions to any part of the crescent would mean spoil- ing the cantilevers and the school's esthetic," says Bushnell. The solution was the basic layout of the building. Seen overhead it loosely resembled the letter C, and BR2 pro- posed to transform it into a D with the straight part of the letter representing a brand new wing of the school com- prised of the extra classrooms and gym. This was feasible because at the two ends of the C were stairwells instead of cantilevers; the new wing would be composed of masonry elements to complement the original structure, and in joining the two ends of the C an inner courtyard was created that maintenance crews could access via garage doors. BR2 interrupted the cantilevers of the original structure in only one area, to create a bold new main entrance with a new cantilever of a second floor chapel (enclosed by extensive glazing) acting as the canopy. The interior upgrades followed 21st-century learning principles. "We opened up spaces and outfitted ancil- lary space with folding walls that would open into learning commons," says Bushnell. "The gymnasium on the inside was enclosed with glazing and on the outside with opaque glaz- ing to eliminate glare." The building envelope was improved with new win- dows, doors, and seals. Jade Sawchuk, project manager – facility services for the Edmonton Catholic School District, points out that, "Fortunately we didn't run into the surprises one often experiences when undertaking interior upgrades. There was minimal abating and some minor block repair, but that was about it." Jen Coffin, senior project man- ager at Graham Construction, agrees. "Ground broke on the project in December of 2018, and we had good base drawings and a building in very good shape," she says. "We started the modernization process slowly in order to fully understand what lay ahead of us, and at the same time we undertook the ground works for the new addition." Coffin adds, "We had to deal with a terrible wet summer of 2019 and then a really rough winter, all the while completing components such as a completely new energy-efficient mechanical and HVAC system as well as solar panels on the new addition and on the gym's south wall. We benefitted enormously from Jade and his team co- ordinating all phases of the project." Sawchuk adds, "The construction was carried out in five phases because keeping 1,000-plus school kids safe and segregated from our work was of utmost importance. At one point we were obliged to rent office space across the street for temporary classrooms, and we used adjacent city property for a staging area." All parties anticipated a grand opening of Holy Trinity High School in December, and Bushnell echoes the sentiments of his colleagues when he says, "It was a challenging moderniza- tion, but everyone from the District to the construction crews were at the top of their game – and Jen at Graham was a great communicator. It's a project to be proud of." A HOLY TRINITY HIGH SCHOOL MODERNIZATION & SOLAR ADDITION by PETER STENNING