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J U N E 2 0 2 1 | 91 Douglas Elementary School E X T ER I O R P H OTO G R A P H Y BY S T UA RT K ER N AG H A N + I N T ER I O R P H OTO G R A P H Y BY B R I G H T P H OTO G R A P H Y/CO U RT E SY T H I N K S PAC E A RC H I T EC T U R E P L A N N I N G I N T ER I O R D E S I G N DOUGLAS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL by ROBIN BRUNET L ast November's opening of the new Douglas Elementary School was part of a larger effort by Surrey School District #36 to alleviate student overcapacity and is dove- tailed by the successful completion of Maddaugh Road Elementary, as well as other proposed new builds and addi- tions to existing facilities. The $25-million Douglas Elementary can accommodate 605 students, has an open concept project circulation space, media and tech- nology spaces, and a Neighbourhood Learning Centre (NLC) with enhanced gymnasium facilities, gathering spaces, and two additional classrooms. Autumn Sweet, associate direc- tor, Planning & Design at Surrey School District Capital Project Office, explains the genesis of the project. "Surrey School District grows by an average of 1,000 students per year, and the decision to develop Douglas Elementary started with the district's Long Range Education and Facility Plan," she says. "It outlined a num- ber of new schools that were urgently required, and Douglas is one of three schools that were developed at the same time with the same floor plan." David Lee Blanchard, partner at Thinkspace Architecture Planning Interior Design who was also tasked with designing Maddaugh, says of Douglas, "It's actually a modified repeat of Maddaugh with very different site work and context. The significant modification to the Douglas plan is the re-planning of the gymnasium block [which includes administration and mechanical facilities]. All three schools have a different cladding colour theme." Blanchard stresses that "This was not an off-the-shelf exercise, but a thoughtful and complete modifica- tion of a proven concept in educational facility design." The development of Douglas was also informed by an ear- lier Thinkspace project, Mar Jok Elementary in Kelowna, which eschewed the standard arrangement of classrooms along a locker lined corridor and instead subdivided 19 classrooms into four groups located around four project areas and asso- ciated resource spaces. "The school district's senior administrators vis- ited Mar Jok and were able to express to the design team what they thought was successful and wanted to see in Douglas Elementary," says Sweet. The project benefitted from a long- time work relationship between the school district and Thinkspace, the latter of which has completed more than 500 school additions. "The rela- tionship was more like a partnership where we engage in respectful dis- cussion and work together toward a common goal," says Blanchard. Blanchard goes on to note that Thinkspace and the school district "went through a comprehensive value engineering exercise, which limited some early design ideas. Items that were value engineered out included operable partitions between each pair of classrooms and a wood sports floor in the gymnasium." However, he adds that the initial concept for the school was maintained throughout the project. One major challenge was that Douglas is located within a newly developed residential area of detached housing and adjacent to a public park. These surroundings, accord- ing to Blanchard, "required revisions to the plan to accommodate building fit within a much narrower site con- straint. Low glazing was also added in the re-planned gym to visually link the interior of the gym to the park." Clark Builders systematically overcame several obstacles, includ- ing a narrow completion window that they upheld by maintaining six-day work weeks. A lso, due to COV ID and at the height of the construction pro- cess, a new site superintendent and project manager were brought onto the project; but although a certain amount of extra time was required to bring them up to speed, deadlines were still met. "This was our first experience with Clark Builders and they were eager to make this a suc- cessful project," says Sweet. "There was a friendly race between the builders of our three schools to see who would open first, and Douglas turned out to be the winner." Sweet says of the effort to develop new facilities in her school district, "Repeat plans or modified repeat plans have their place and can work in certain situations. However, every site is different with regards to size, shape, and topography. Douglas and its two sister schools work because all three sites were similar in topography." Sweet concludes, "We wanted to ensure that the new schools reflect the current way education is delivered. The architects were very successful in taking existing provincial man- dated area standards for elementary schools and massaging them in a way that facilitates our needs. We're very pleased with Douglas Elementary and look forward to many generations of educators and learners making it their home away from home." A LOCATION 17325 2nd Avenue, Surrey, B.C. OWNER /DEVELOPER Surrey School District #36 ARCHITECT Thinkspace Architecture Planning Interior Design GENER AL CONTR ACTOR Clark Builders STRUCTUR AL CONSULTANT Bush, Bohlman & Partners MECHANICAL CONSULTANT Rocky Point Engineering Ltd. ELECTRICAL CONSULTANT Jarvis Engineering Consultants Ltd. L ANDSCAPE ARCHITECT Viewpoint Landscape Architects TOTAL SIZE 4,705 square metres TOTAL COST $25 million 3:08 PM