Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/255439
Ecole Pitt River Community Middle School by Jessica Kirby L ight, simplicity and longevity conceptualized the design at Ecole Pitt River Community Middle School in Coquitlam, B.C. – a 55,000-square-foot LEED Gold building highlighted by a robust exterior treat- ment and innovative natural lighting. Ecole Pitt River replaced an exist- ing school structure that required cost-prohibitive seismic upgrading. The new $20-million building has the capacity to hold 450 students plus staff and faculty, and though it occu- pies a smaller footprint, flexible class- rooms provide occupants with plenty of room to move. Alex Minard, associate principal with Perkins + Will, says the school's design was custom tailored to reflect and support the school district's team approach to learning and teaching. Tight spatial allowances coupled with the ministry's fiscal restraints challenged the design team to develop a functional and affordable plan for the building. "About 75 per cent of the way through construction drawings the unit rates were cut by a further 15 per cent," says Minard. The team conquered the challenge with simple, repeated structures and systems, and with materials with inher- ent finishes. "By using these simple local materials, we were also able to ensure a healthy indoor environment," says Minard. "Extensive windows fill the school with light and provide views to the mountains in the distance." Because B.C.'s Ministry of Education does not have a specific design model for middle schools, it allocates space as if middle schools were two-thirds elementary school and one-third secondary school. "Elementary schools are generally just classrooms, while secondary schools have more elective space than a middle school would need," says Rod Maas, architect with Perkins + Will. "The school district for this proj- ect effectively reassigned the elective space allowance to create rooms and programs the students use." The existing school's floor area was designed to accommodate up to 600 students at 1960s standards, which meant the current student population of 450 felt like they had all the space in the world in their old building, says Maas. The new space features divisible classrooms and breakout spaces where groups can congregate based on their size and academic requirements. "The flex space between the classes means the teacher can teach smaller and larger groups, or open a door to cre- ate one-and-a-half classrooms or even connect more than one classroom," says Maas. Based on B.C.'s Wood First Initiative, Perkins + Will designed the main structure completely of wood Glulam heavy timber and the ceilings of solid wood decking. "It's a structurally efficient building that way," says Maas. "We also used exposed wood on the ceil- ing with acoustic panels for acoustic and light reflection, so it's very simple in its materials." Eoin McCloskey, project manager for Lark Group, general contractor on the project, says the structure is built on a reinforced pad foundation with reinforced wood Glulam columns and is wrapped in a waterproof membrane under off-white corrugated, metal cladding. The school comprises two levels and in the roof a high clerestory extends the length of the academic build- ing, allowing generous light penetra- tion from all sides. "If you look at the building from the road level you can see through it," says Maas. "From a sectional perspective you can see out from the hallway and vice versa. Corri- dors tend to be long and relentless and this makes it as daylit as possible and takes the monotony out of it." A key feature of the building is a set of shutters on the north and south elevations fabricated from perforated cladding. "Rather than using a typical roller shutter on every window, we used a bi-folding shutter door com- monly used on airplane hangars," says Minard. "When open, these provide solar shading. When closed, they pro- vide glare control and security." The shutters span up to three windows, reducing the number of motors required to operate them and the amount of related maintenance. "The school district wanted to create a robust structure that could withstand vandalism," says McCloskey. "When the shutters are down in the summer, they save energy for the building. When it is all closed down the building appears as a big white box and is very discreet and streamlined." The building is heated with gas boilers and heat recovery units and features a ventilation system in each room. Integral Group completed the mechanical systems, plumbing, HVAC and fire protection on the project, which had to meet LEED Gold requirements as a government project. Associate principal with the Integral Group, Jean-Sebastien Tessier, says the clerestory was a key challenge in running and hiding services. The mechanical system is based on a typically larger system that uses long unit ventilators, except at Ecole Pitt River the ventilators are rather small and are integrated within the millwork in each room. The units feature low fan energy con- sumption and operate at a significantly lower water temperature, reducing energy costs. "The heat recovery system transfers the heat to the core where it is recovered and put out at an output ratio of three to one. It seems simple when you walk through the building, but the real work was in the integration," says Tessier. "The services required a holistic approach to the building, so you wouldn't know where the ventilation systems were if you walked through the building." Elevation was also an issue, says Tessier. "Because the roof is visible from the street we had to be careful about where to locate the services so there was no architectural impact." The building outperforms traditional schools in energy use with automatic daylight sensors, occupancy sensors and CO2 sensors that monitor air quality. "Even beyond the fact that this was the first LEED Gold building this district has done, I see it as a big milestone for the district," says Maas. "This is a big win for everyone and the district is very happy for it." n Location 2070 Tyner Street, Coquitlam, B.C. owner/DeveLoper Coquitlam School District No. 43 architect Perkins + Will GeneraL contractor Lark Group StructuraL conSuLtant Fast + Epp Structural Engineers MechanicaL conSuLtant Integral Group eLectricaL conSuLtant Acumen Engineering LanDScape conSuLtant Durante Kreuk totaL area 55,000 square feet totaL coSt $20 million courtesy Perkins + Will february 2014 /73 ecole Pitt river Community Middle School Architectural Wood.indd 1 14-01-16 3:17 PM p72-73 Ecole Pitt River.indd 73 14-01-22 11:22 AM