Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/177525
COURTESY GRANT + SINCLAIR ARCHITECTS LTD. Burnaby Central Secondary School by Kim Wooder urnaby's Deer Lake Parkway has a new tenant, or rather a renewed tenant. Burnaby Central Secondary School is being torn down and the new school repositioned on the site so that its facade faces City Hall. The school's relocation was not initially part of School District 41's plan but the eventual winner of the design competition had a different idea. When Grant + Sinclair Architects Inc.'s design team saw that the school was to be located on the lower part of the site, they felt strongly that the building should front the parkway. Project architect Annerieke van Hoek says going against the rules of the competition was a huge risk, but one that ultimately paid off. "We just knew the school needed to be placed across from City Hall," van Hoek recalls, "instead of where the lower playing ield is now. In the end, it was the right decision." Not only does the new school provide another visual anchor on the street, along with its gorgeous boulevards and bike paths, but its relocation also made the neighbours happy. Russ Sales is the director of facilities services for the district and gives thanks to Grant + Sinclair Architects for thinking outside the box. In hindsight, Sales says, putting the school where it is made perfect sense for all kinds of reasons, including the all-important pick-up and drop-off zones. He says it suits its new location and points out how everything tucks in nicely on the site. Upon completion, the site will hold boasting rights to an international-standard athletic track. The track is part of phase three of the project, and thus far, says Sales, all the targets have been hit in time for students to occupy the new building by the start of the 2011/2012 school year. B Project leader Giffels Corporation Inc. vice president Tim Fitzpatrick says when timelines are tight, as they were with this project, the key is to partner with a professional and that meant a call to DGS Construction Company Ltd. owner Dennis Rossi. Rossi's company has a reputation for building great " Burnaby Central Secondary School p.54-61Epcor_Burnaby.indd 59 The fall and winter of 2010 and 2011 were great for skiers, but horrific for construction and we ended up in a three-month period with only five sunny days." – Tim Fitzpatrick, Giffels Corporation Inc. vice president schools and proved again why experience counts. Fitzpatrick says lousy weather made the going rough. "The fall and winter of 2010 and 2011 were great for skiers," Fitzpatrick recalls, "but horri ic for construction and we ended up in a three-month period with only ive sunny days." Fitzpatrick says crews were waiting with the roof ready to go, but soggy skies cut into the project's critical path. He says that even with the delays, DGS and the team managed to respect the start date for the new school, a feat he describes as outstanding. Timelines aside, Rossi says the biggest challenge was one of logistics. The old school had to remain functional while the new school was being built. Students were understandably curious about the construction and, as part of a student initiative, they placed a camera on the roof to monitor the new building's progress through the school's website. Even after the new school was 90 per cent complete, the old gym remained in use and students moved back and forth between the two buildings. Phase two of the project involves the completion of the new gym and demolition of the old school, another piece of the puzzle for students as they get a close up view of their new campus construction. It remains an interactive effort, with students able to track things like power consumption via a touch-screen monitor in the entranceway. The new school's concrete and glass exterior shelters a space built for modern-day learning. There are projectors mounted on the ceilings in every room, which are wired for easy computer access, and the laboratories are state-of-the-art. FEBRUARY 2012 /59 1/23/12 10:38:43 AM