Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/177297
Location 3455 West King Edward Avenue Vancouver, B.C. Owner/Developer Vancouver School Board Architect IBI/HB Architects (IBI Group) General Contractor Heatherbrae Builders Co. Ltd. Structural Consultant Read Jones Christoffersen Ltd. Mechanical Consultant MMM Group Ltd. Electrical Consultant MCL Engineering Limited Landscape Architect Jonathan Losee Ltd. Educational Planning Consultants Fielding Nair International Arborist photos: bob matheson Arbortech Consulting Ltd. Total Area 52,275 square feet Total Construction Cost $14.5 million Lord Kitchener Elementary School by Laurie Jones hen Lord Kitchener Elementary School was built in 1914, few could imagine what the facility would become almost 100 years later. Thanks to funding through the provincial Ministry of Education as part of a seismic upgrade program, a new school was built, incorporating an original heritage wood structure into the new complex. The new school's unique design was inspired by 21st Century Learning Principles, a philosophy based on modern tenants of education such as building a learning community that nurtures both the individual and the group, among other ideas. IBI/HB Architects (IBI Group), working with Fielding Nair International as educational planners, designed a building that supports these concepts. "Instead of having classrooms off a long hallway, we have a central learning space with a series of different sized rooms, or pods, clustered around it," says Kelly Isford-Saxon, construction projects manager for the Vancouver School Board. "The rooms all open on to a number of learning commons via garage-style doors, and sliding doors between the classrooms to allow teaching to occur on whatever level instructors deem appropriate. This could mean having all 150 students assigned to that pod take part, or only 25 students. The space is very flexible to meet the needs of the teacher or group of teachers conducting a lesson." Lord Kitchener Elementary has clustered this series of classrooms around a huge learning commons, which allows the student population to gather in one space. "This is interesting because the second floor is open to the main floor so you can look down and see the entire community," says Isford-Saxon. "When all the doors to the classrooms are open, students can see the entire space, giving a feeling of connection." Teaching methods have been changing significantly, and the school's new design has the support of those at the helm. "In the case of Lord Kitchener, the teachers came on board because they realized they were doing a lot of collaborative teaching with other teachers, but the existing facility's divided space was holding them back," says Peter Lang, project architect with IBI Group. "Now the layout allows that collaboration to happen because the students are all in the same area and moving around within their own learning community." W Lord Kitchener Elementary School p78-79Lord Kitchener.indd 79 The two-storey building was designed to have the younger students' classrooms on the lower floor and the older students on the second floor. "This gives the students the feeling that they are moving up in the world as they advance their education," Lang notes. The school has an atrium space in the front entry lobby called the Community Commons. "This is where the parents can drop off their children and can communicate with other parents and teachers," he says. "It also serves as a social area for the students and can double as a performance space. It also functions as an adjunct to the before- and after-school facility." Rounding out the amenities are a large gymnasium, a multipurpose room with a serving kitchen and a library. "The school was built to LEED Gold specifications. We included an energy-efficient envelope and a combination of displacement ventilation which brings the air right down to the floor," he says. "Radiant heating was installed in the ceiling and there are high efficiency boilers. An air-to-water heat pump system on the roof is almost as efficient as geothermal." The library roof has been designed to accommodate a future green roof for educational purposes. The building is simple in design, but an extensive use of wood was incorporated wherever possible to adhere to the province's Wood First Act. "We included wood on all the trim, accent wood on the outside, installed wood soffits, and exposed glulam was used in the library and on the main entrance canopy," says Lang. "We incorporated interior wall-protection paneling and wood trim around doors to provide a warm atmosphere." Fibre cement siding gives the exterior a wood look which helps the school fit into the residential community. Inside, the colour scheme is playful, with charcoal, terra cotta and wood tones mixed with bright primary colour accents. Rebuilding a school of significant size in the centre of a residential area was not without challenges. "We were pushing a 14-month schedule that was very tight but because of City bylaws, we were limited to a timeframe in which we could work," says Michael Keenan, project manager for Heatherbrae Builders Co. Ltd. "The main issues were noise and dust entering the housing areas. Two streets of housing look directly on to the site, with trucks and crews moving all the time." But a more lighthearted component arose for Keenan during the building process when he fielded questions from teachers and students. "Working beside an existing school was unique in that we had a question-and-answer period with the students while we looked outside at the site from their classrooms," he says. "It was fun and the kids had a lot of good questions. We realized that the more technical questions were probably coming from their parents, such as 'what is your budget,' or 'are you on schedule' and 'it looks like there is a lot of rebar being used.' In a sense, this was an avenue where the parents could question us through their kids. Surprisingly, it was the girls who were most interested in the large machinery being used." Future projects proposed for the school is an outdoor amphitheatre for a student gathering area or outdoor teaching on occasion. A labyrinth is also being considered, and a green space for a garden will be created to teach students about vegetable production and sustainability. ■ december 2012 /79 11/16/12 3:44 PM