Award

M A R C H 2 0 2 5 | 69 Alexander First Nation Kipohtakaw Education Centre ALEXANDER FIRST NATION KIPOHTAKAW EDUCATION CENTRE by ROBIN BRUNET A ll collaborators on the Alexander First Nation Kipohtakaw Education Centre agree that patience, along with intense engagement with First Nations and user groups, was key to bringing the project to life. The project modernized the exist- ing 1,600-square-metre school and created an additional 957 square metres, designed to seamlessly inte- grate with the existing building. A critical outcome for the project was preserving the continuity of the school's culture and history. Jody Kootenay, director of edu- cation at Alexander First Nation Education, says, "Our original school was designed by Douglas Cardinal in 1992 to resemble the wings of an out- stretched eagle, as seen from above. Since then our population has grown, and in addition to running out of school space the classrooms were not optimal, plus we had no kitchen space and not many special educa- tion spaces. A feasibility study was undertaken in 2017, and after engag- ing Reimagine architects to redesign the school interior as well as the new addition, we proceeded on a wing and a prayer, since we didn't receive any funding until 2022." The work was considerable: demo- lition was required in a large area of the existing building in order to transform it into a modern learning environment. The school also required structural reinforcement without com- promising its historical integrity. Claudia Yehia-Alaeddin, princi- pal architect at Reimagine, says her firm first engaged with Alexander First Nation Education eight years ago to discuss the 21st learning principles that would anchor the renovated facil- ity. "We had travelled the country to study the schools that best embodied this concept and firmly believe that its success depends on collaboration to determine what the user groups want and need – so we spent many hours engaging students and teachers as well as the Kipohtakaw community and elders." One outcome of this was a design that embodied Kipohtakaw values. For example, placement of spaces and colours plays an important design role, with younger students situated in the eastern portion of the facility (reflect- ing the values of the medicine wheel, east being the sun, spring) and older children to the west (a blue quadrant, representing adulthood/youth). The white northern quadrant, represent- ing wisdom and knowledge keepers, was designated for the learning com- mons. Each of the major learning communities will be connected to one another by a single river, flowing from the mountains to the woodlands to the prairies, illustrated in the floor patterns. This pattern will transition seamlessly from interior floor finishes to exterior hardscaping elements. The use of the curve in the floor patterns is known to have a calming effect on stu- dents, and will provide an additional activity surface for them. While the renovation design emphasized openness and plenty of natural light, the addition benefited aesthetically from a heavy timber superstructure. "Green spaces have proven to be uplifting in day-to-day learning and working environments," Yehia-Alaeddin says. "All focused learning environments will be situ- ated with a connection to the outdoors, with transparency between interior and exterior spaces. All learning com- munities, in both the modernization and in the addition, will have views along the central east-west spine of the school to the outdoor learning com- munity at the addition." Construction commenced in early 2022. "Following the tender close, we worked closely with Alexander Building Solutions [a Kipohtakaw- owned and operated company] to align Jen Col's project plan to a detailed plan with the main subcontractor of the project," says Mo Athari, proj- ect manager at Jen Col Construction. "We awarded the following scope to ABS: excavation, forming, site concrete work, drywall, acoustic treatments, painting, and wood framing." Athari goes on to note, "Reinforcement was accomplished by adding wood joists to the main struc- ture and an extra layer of plywood on top of the existing floor." As for mould that was discovered through- out the school's crawlspace, he says, "We worked closely with an environmental firm to investigate and assess the con- tamination level, which resulted in a recommendation to clean the entire crawl space, monitor the air quality, and test after cleaning. This required us to create eight temporary access spaces through the existing concrete walls in order to remove the contaminated soil and replace it with a concrete slab." The new building structure includes concrete piles and grade beams, glulam columns, beams, and roof panels com- pleted with steel connections as well as steel studs and gypsum boards for the exterior walls. The interior walls are steel stud and drywall completed with aluminum storefronts and wood doors. The building's exterior windows and curtain walls are fibreglass. Kootenay says of the finished project, "It's a beautiful, safe, and wel- coming facility. In hindsight it might have been easier to simply scrap the original building and start fresh, but the outcome is fantastic – thanks to the collaborative spirit and a willingness of all parties to be patient as circum- stances were resolved." A LOCATION 9 Kec Drive, Alexander First Nation, Rivière Qui Barre, Alberta OWNER /DEVELOPER Alexander First Nation Education ARCHITECT/ELECTRICAL CONSULTANT Reimagine GENER AL CONTR ACTOR JEN COL Construction STRUCTUR AL CONSULTANT RJC Engineers MECHANICAL CONSULTANT Remedy Engineering CIVIL CONSULTANT V3 Companies of Canada Ltd. GEOTECHNICAL CONSULTANT SolidEarth Geotechnical Inc. TOTAL SIZE 1,600 square metres (renovation); 957 square metres (addition) TOTAL COST $15.5 million P H OTO G R A P H Y BY J U L I A N PA R K I N S O N /CO U RT E S Y R EI M AG I N E A RC H I T EC T S

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