Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/147234
photos: Jocelyn Tanner/p3A Arcola Community School by Laurie Jones rom the first time people walk into Arcola Community School in Regina their response is one of awe. With a 32-foot ceiling over the common area atrium, a 22-foot living wall and two-storey glass walls throughout, the school resembles a university wing rather than an elementary school. Opened in November 2012, Arcola is a pre-kindergarten to grade eight school with a student population that ranges from 330 and 365. "The biggest advantage of the new school is the flexibility to rearrange the learning spaces," says Allen Wills, principal. "On the main floor there are four learning studios, or classrooms, with glass garage doors allowing access – both visually and physically – to a common area and a larger hallway space, as well as numerous smaller teaching spaces. This level will be for students up to grade six. "We also have sliding glass doors that look like barn doors between the pre-kindergarten and kindergarten class. This was designed so the children can participate in activities together," adds Wills. Unlike traditional school designs that had static classrooms, this flexible space is used throughout the school to allow teachers to expand or share their teaching space with colleagues and other students. The two levels of the building are connected with a grand, sweeping staircase known as the waterfall stairs. "These stairs are part of the design that features a carpeted area in patchwork colours representing an aerial view of Saskatchewan farmland," says Wills. "A blue river of colour extends from the bottom of the stairs through the length of the common area, again, representing the region." Glulam vertical posts represent the trees of Saskatchewan's Boreal Forest and coloured waves of glass near the roof reflect the beauty of the Northern Lights. Based on Fielding Nair International (FNI) philosophies for 21st century learning, Arcola Community School's concept offers a new flow to education. "We went with the learning community format to accommodate personalized instruction, F Arcola Community School p60-61Arcola.indd 61 with flexibility to have students grouped based on their interests and learning styles," says Julie MacRae, director of education for Regina Public Schools. "Reconfiguring rooms and furniture reflects the creativity of the different learning activities and interaction that the teachers and students would participate in. The whole environment creates an ability to both see and be involved at the school," adds MacRae. The new building needed to be safely constructed on land adjacent to the existing school, which continued to operate during the build. "When the two builds were up together there was one spot that was less than six feet between the two structures," says Wills. "The old building was demolished once the new facility was opened. Now work is underway on landscaping to accommodate various age ranges, including playground apparatus for the younger children and athletic fields for the older ones." Coming up with a design that would work for the confined footprint of the school grounds was a group effort. "It is remarkable how the building had to be shoehorned into the area," says Vanessa Keilback, project architect with P3Architecture Partnership (P3A). "Because of the site constrains and requirements for future expansion, we ended up with a batwing-shaped building." Starting with a sustainable design, the P3A team moved to maximize the east/west orientation of the building on the site to get as much daylight into the building as possible. "One hallmark of our company is that most of the buildings we design rarely require a light turned on during the day. Arcola is a good example of that," says Keilback. The shape of the building, the clerestory windows and the broad overhang of the roof were driven by the environmental and sustainable design process. "We ended up with a more complicated roofline because of the depth of the building," says James Youck, principal and architect with P3A . "We broke it up into sections to get the light deep into the space during winter months and keep the hot summer sun out as much as possible." Construction time spanned over 14 months and involved a number of design configurations. "We had some interesting challenges," says Martin Krause, project manager with Westridge Construction Ltd. "With the seven different rooflines we used a variety of materials to accommodate the slopes, including steel beams, Glulam beam and flat roofs to accommodate the gymnasium and the green roof." Another unique building product used was bowstring trusses. "These are Glulam beams with steel rods tensioning them back so they can span further across the roof structure in the atrium," says Phil Ackerman, project manager with JC Kenyon Engineering Inc. While the initial cost of construction was $14.5 million, unforeseen water utility infrastructure needs required an additional $1 million worth of preconstruction work. Now a showpiece for future school construction, the Arcola Community School students and staff are clearly ready to show off the facility. ■ Location 2315 Abbott Road Regina, Saskatchewan Owner/Developer Regina Public Schools Architect P3Architecture Partnership General Contractor Westridge Construction Ltd. Structural Consultant JC Kenyon Engineering Inc. Mechanical Consultant MacPherson Engineering Inc. Electrical Consultant Alfa Engineering Ltd. Total Area 49,902 square feet Total Cost $15.5 million august 2013 /61 13-07-12 1:45 PM