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J U N E 2 0 2 2 | 63 Bayview Elementary School R EN D ER I N GS CO U RT E S Y F R A N C L A RC H I T EC T U R E BAYVIEW ELEMENTARY SCHOOL by ROBIN BRUNET T he Vancouver School Board's work in seismically upgrading and replacing schools is nothing new, but a recent initiative it adopted has led to a unique school replace- ment project for the 1914 Bayview Elementary School. The initiative was to use mass tim- ber in the construction of the new two-storey, 35,600-square-foot K-7 Bayview school, developed to LEED Gold standards. "When we started the design in 2018, we priced differ- ent building materials, and given that steel was facing such enormous tariffs we realized it would be an opportu- nity for us to use CLT," says Janson Ho, director, Vancouver Project Office, Vancouver School District. Francl Architecture used mass tim- ber as primary structural elements throughout the school and exposed in the gymnasium, library, stairwells, and circulation spine. In addition to these elements creating a warm inte- rior ambiance, they will reportedly achieve a total savings of 1,400 tonnes of carbon dioxide – the equivalent of removing hundreds of cars from the road for an entire year. Andrew Weyrauch, associate at Francl Architecture, says, "The Bayview site is about half the size of a typical Vancouver school project, and CLT was a preferred material because it's lighter than concrete and would be less of a burden on the soil." Francl worked to develop a floor plan with a long north/south axis and classrooms aligned to the east and west. The ground floor includes a main entry on the south end, central- ized administration area, gymnasium connected to a large community space at the southwest corner, and a kin- dergarten pod plus three classrooms to the north and east. The upper floor includes 10 classrooms connected to a central open library. The classroom volumes were stag- gered to foster collaborative learning environments, and the corridors were designed to accommodate breakout rooms, seating, hangout space, and a larger learning commons. Also, the library opens to the corridor, pro- viding additional flexible space and opportunities for informal learning. A multipurpose area would serve a variety of duties: "Movable, stackable tables enabled it to be a lunchroom, or a space for neighbourhood use, as well as before and after school care – and thanks to an operable wall lead- ing directly to the gym it could serve as a performance stage," says Ayme Sharma, architect at Francl. The CLT system served as both gravity and shear walls, allowing it to withstand the region's high seismic forces. For the gymnasium and mul- tipurpose room, a composite double-T design incorporating CLT and glulam beams was used to create 16-metre- long spanning panels. Ho says, "We had worked before with Francl, and Fast + Epp helped us create our first mass timber proj- ect, Sir Matthew Begbie Elementary School, which is also in the con- struction phase. Bayview was an opportunity to refine and apply all the lessons we'd learned from Begbie." Chandos Construction broke ground on the site in late 2020, but a unique problem arose during demoli- tion of the original school. "Someone spotted a seagull nest on the roof of the structure, and this led to work being suspended for a month as we followed BC Wildlife protocols and relocated the nest," Ho says. More unforeseen issues were encountered after the building was demolished. "The soil conditions proved to be unsuitable and had to be replaced with fill," Ho says. As Bayview Elementary gradu- ally took shape, Chandos praised a virtual design and construction process, which allowed for the pre- fabrication of the mechanical room and the CLT panels. BIM and Power BI were also used to track the prog- ress of the CLT installation. As for honouring the past, two wood heritage elements from the original school were incorporated in the new building: an arched window from 1913 (it was installed in the inte- rior) and vestibule doors from 1929 (now installed in the main floor corri- dor). White brick has been used to clad spaces of education, while dark metal cladding denotes gathering spaces such as the multipurpose room, gym- nasium, and the circulation spine. As of April, the new Bayview Elementary School was on track for a September opening, and Ho says of the project: "It benefitted from a great team approach, and the provincial government is interested in seeing more schools built with CLT. We are too, because at the end of the day and in addition to all its benefits, the mate- rial goes a long way in making really beautiful learning facilities." A LOCATION 3505 West 7th, Vancouver, B.C. OWNER /DEVELOPER Vancouver School District ARCHITECT Francl Architecture GENER AL CONTR ACTOR Chandos Construction STRUCTUR AL CONSULTANT Fast + Epp MECHANICAL CONSULTANT Rocky Point Engineering Ltd. ELECTRICAL CONSULTANT MCL Engineering Ltd. L ANDSCAPE ARCHITECT Maruyama & Associates CODE CONSULTANT LMDG Building Code Consultants Ltd. TOTAL SIZE 35,600 square feet TOTAL COST $22.4 million

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