Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/493534
56 | A PR IL 2015 École Qayqayt Elementary School PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY THINKSPACE ARCHITECTURE École Qayqayt Elementary School by JESSICA KRIPPENDORF É cole Qayqayt Elementary, named to honour and remember the QayQayt First Nation, showcases contem- porary technology while retaining a respectful nod to the past with state- of-the-art light, heating and electri- cal systems tucked away in a building that fits esthetically within its histori- cally significant neighbourhood in New Westminster, B.C. The replacement school was pro- cured through the design build procure- ment process. It was constructed on the former Saint Mary's Hospital site and has five kindergarten and 18 elemen- tary classrooms for 500 students. The building's massing, material composition and texture reflect a con- temporary expression of the early 20th century Craftsman style detailing that exists on adjacent and nearby buildings. "Pitched roofs, large overhangs and generous glazing, together with hori- zontal siding and brick cladding are inspired by historical forms embedded in a community which is proud of, and celebrates its past," says Mohan Krishna, architect with thinkspace architecture. The siting, massing and orienta- tion of the new school is influenced by several major factors. Site constraints were a major consideration, and form, program function, street presence and solar orientation were also key compo- nents of the design process. "The building footprint responds to the pedestrian nature of the urban sur- roundings," says Krishna. "The minimum setback from the existing sidewalks along Agnes Street and Merrivale Street provides an attractive building suitable for the surrounding community." One of the design features in the upper and lower corridors is the provi- sion of enlarged corridor nodes or project spaces for shared learning projects. The two-storey classroom block is oriented to maximize direct sunlight from the south and daylighting from the north. Direct sunlight is mitigated by sunscreens or harvested through two glazed solar chimneys, which promote ventilation of heated or stale air through natural convection. " T he sout h-facing chimney is designed to allow solar energy to enter through glazed surfaces at the top of the chimney, promoting upward convective heat currents that are directed to the outside of the building through louvres on the north side of the chimney," says Krishna. This upward air movement effectively draws air from the lower and main floor corridors through openings in the floor, ceiling and classroom area through relief air vents. The solar chimneys also achieve pas- sive heating, collecting otherwise vented heat during the cooler months and direct- ing it to the mechanical heating systems. The project aimed to highlight the Wood First Initiative with extensive wood and steel framing supports, and visually appealing wood and steel ten- sion roof trusses in both the library and gymnasium. "The library located on the main floor classroom block is designed as a welcom- ing open plan with views to the south and expressive architectural and structural treatments emphasizing the importance of the library to the school," says Krishna. "From the exterior, the library is accen- tuated through the use of exposed struc- ture and unique glazing accents." Exterior finishes have been selected on the basis of durability, esthetics and low maintenance. "Pre-finished alumi- num-framed glazing, painted cement- fibre siding, concrete brick and metal roofs comprise the exterior material pal- ette of the school," says Krishna. "These materials have been selected on the basis of historic context and appearance while minimizing future maintenance." Concrete brick is applied up to three- metres above-grade in areas requiring impact resistance and the rest of the exterior is clad in highly durable cement- fibre cladding that mimics horizontal wood siding. The roof features high- performance metal roofing material in all sloped applications and a SBS mem- brane roof for flat applications. Colour and finish were selected to reduce the heat island effect in the roofing. A stormwater trail and rain garden at the main entrance accentuates the site slope and creates a wildlife habitat. Rainwater collected at the upper play area flows through outlets in the stepped retaining walls, through the undulating stormwater trail and terminates at the rain garden catchment pond. An over- flow connecting to the general storm collection system is in the lower pond. "At points along the stormwater trail, there is a path connection from the sidewalk to allow interactions between the children and the natural water system," says Krishna. The project is constructed with LEED Gold objectives, met in part by generous natural daylighting achieved by the solar chimneys and generous glazing. Weather protection and permanent walk-off mats have been incorporated into major entrances, low-VOC emitting materials are used in the interior finishes, and optimum insulation in the exterior walls and roof reduces energy loss. Bike racks and storage lockers will encourage teachers and students alike to reduce their carbon footprint. Bernhard Gafner, P.Eng with struc- tural engineering firm Fast + Epp says mixed concrete and wood-frame materials were used to maximize the individual advantages to achieve cost- effective structural systems that respect the architectural design intent. Structurally the school was kept simple, thereby eliminating many of the challenges before they could arise. "During construction the soil conditions were found to be different than originally assumed, so a fast re-design of the foun- dations was required," says Gafner. "The fast tracked schedule added complexity as well and required a parallel approach with the architect and builder." The heavily contoured building site challenged the team with a 12-metre end-to-end grade difference. The team maintained a suitable scale by stepping the building to match the topography. "The landscape utilizes the natural slope onsite, connects the vari- ous levels and works towards enhancing the public realm and streetscape as well as creating as many usable areas for the children as possible," says Krishna. The area of the proposed school site was about half of what is typically avail- able for designing a school, calling for an extremely efficient use of space and available volume, both during design as well as construction. Hira Boparai, electrical designer with Applied Engineering Solutions Ltd. says contributing to the energy effi- ciency of the building was a low voltage lighting control system connected to the building management system (BMS) to schedule the lighting as required. All low voltage lighting controls are programmed to sweep off after hours as required, and small rooms such as storage rooms, offices, quiet rooms and electrical rooms have line volt- age switching with vacancy sensors to automatically turn off the lighting when there is no occupancy detected for a maximum of 30 minutes. "In all areas where luminaires are installed near the windows, daylight har- vesting sensors are provided to automati- cally dim those luminaires," says Boparai. "Dimming switches are also provided for the nurse's room, the quiet rooms and the daycare napping area to further dim the lights if the user requires." The typical classroom, multi-pur- pose and daycare rooms, and other common-use learning rooms have lin- ear fluorescent suspended luminaires divided into two zones. Low voltage lighting controls are provided to manu- ally turn on the lights when the users enter the space. "Through the use of energy efficient LED and fluorescent luminaires with occupancy sensors, daylight harvesting and a low voltage control system, we have provided a lighting design that min- imizes energy usage and allows for flex- ible controllability of the lighting system that can be easily adjusted as the users require in the future," says Boparai. A LOCATION 85 Merivale Street, New Westminster, B.C. OWNER/DEVELOPER School District #40 (New Westminster) OWNER'S REPRESENTATIVE Alkins Project Services Inc. ARCHITECT thinkspace architecture COMPLIANCE ARCHITECT M3 Architecture Inc. DESIGN BUILD CONTRACTOR Yellowridge Design Build STRUCTURAL CONSULTANT Fast + Epp Structural Engineers MECHANICAL CONSULTANT MAB Engineering Inc. ELECTRICAL CONSULTANT Applied Engineering Solutions LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT Eckford Tyacke & Associates (eta) SIZE 50,600 square feet COST $14.5 million