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88 | AUGUST 2017 Roy Bickell Public School RENDERING COURTESY STANTEC Roy Bickell Public School by ROBIN BRUNET O n paper, Roy Bickell Public School is yet another in a series of much- needed new learning institutions mandated by Alberta Infrastructure to accommodate that province's growing number of students. But as a building project, it represents how perseverance and hard work can overcome unforeseen obstacles; and in terms of design, its architecture has been called "outright beautiful." Named after long time Grande Prairie resident and avid fossil hunter Roy Bickell, the school serves students from kindergarten through grade eight in Grande Prairie's Royal Oaks neighbourhood. Grande Prairie Public School District director of operation Geoff Barron says, "The school would be situated in the north end of this fairly new community, which has experienced significant growth and will continue to expand in the future." The school district had brought two new schools into operation in the fall of 2015, and Barron says "we decided we wanted something different for this neighbourhood. Elementary schools by nature are developed quicker and with less input than secondary schools, and we were committed to a tight timeline of bringing Roy Bickell into operation in the fall of 2017; but nonetheless we undertook discussions with Alberta Infrastructure, Stantec and Royal Oaks residents to determine what they wanted to see in this new facility." Stantec was retained not just for the design of the project, but for structural, mechanical, electrical, civil, and landscape duties, all with the aim of enabling the facility to achieve LEED Silver designation. Heather Bretz, discipline leader at Stantec Architecture Ltd., says a common desire arising from the group discussions "was that the facility should be welcoming, and to us that meant lots of wood, natural light spilling into the building and a sense of playfulness that would also appeal to the younger students." The chief architectural statement of Roy Bickell is a soaring canopy studded with recessed lighting and supported by rows of glulam columns. The structure covers one portion of the facility and overhangs two faces, one of the faces flanking a main entrance of glazing that enables pedestrians to peer into the depths of the building. Bretz says, "Grande Prairie receives its fair share of wind, snow and rain, so the canopy helps provide shelter – which is another way to impart a sense of warmth. Additionally, because we were aspiring to LEED Silver standards, the canopy would also provide solar shading in the summer months." Hardie panel siding was selected as cladding, with split face charcoal masonry veneer running along the bottom of the school, as well as metal composite panels surrounding the entrance. Augmenting the canopy is a new product from Vicwest: metal soffits imprinted to resemble cedar with a feature band underneath. The overlarge windows at the front of the building are also tinted, to provide the playfulness the architect and stakeholders were seeking. While the interior contains familiar elements such as long corridors lined with lockers, Bretz accommodated 21st-century learning principles by augmenting some of the corridors with powered overhead doors and some classrooms with acoustic partitions. "When the doors are opened and the partitions are pulled back, you have giant open areas that facilitate a group approach to learning," she says. Interior windows were used throughout the school for a sense of openness, and a glass sliding wall was used to separate the main foyer and the learning commons. "When that wall is pulled back, you have a single huge space for community events," says Bretz. The architect goes on to note that "there was the usual balancing act under the LEED guidelines of providing enough natural light without impacting the owner's consumption of energy, but due to careful planning we achieved the best of both worlds. Even the gymnasium has windows, up high and on the north side so as not to cause any glare." Concrete floors and durable surfaces were the order of the day, with birch millwork accents continuing the welcoming theme. Brian Drew, project director of Fillmore Construction Management Inc., says, "I've worked on quite a few schools in recent years, but Heather's design for Roy Bickell is outright beautiful." Drew and his team faced numerous challenges bringing the school to life, starting with the foundations. "Initially this was supposed to be slab on grade, but Grande Prairie clay is volatile in that accumulation of moisture causes it to swell and crack any concrete sitting on it. "Fortunately, Stantec undertook a redesign for a structural alternative whereby the building slab would sit on 210 piles. This worked out well, because it eliminated the need for us to excavate and remove 1.5 metres of fill material. With some careful value engineering we were able to offset the increased structural slab costs with the reduced excavation savings to result in a premium product at no cost to our client." Construction began in earnest in July of 2016, but by August the work crews ran into another problem. "We weren't getting our steel shop drawings, and it turned out that the Winnipeg draftsmen were withholding them because they hadn't been paid by our steel supplier," says Drew. "Shortly afterwards our supplier went bankrupt, and we had to find another steel supplier in short order. That set us back an entire month." To compensate, Drew overlapped trades and persuaded many of them to work overtime: "Fortunately, Grande Prairie tradesmen have a tremendous work ethic, and this resulted in things you wouldn't normally see, such as the studs and roofing being ready just as the steel was up." Don Osler, structural technologist at Stantec Architecture, notes that standard structural solutions for the canopy's cantilevers were impractical, since elimination of cold bridging was a priority. "Led by my colleague and structural specialist Qiguo Wang, we provided low-conductivity thermal breaks incorporated into steel beam connection design for the overhead canopy. Because the canopy slopes in two directions, no two column configurations were identical." Special attention was paid to exposed structural connections for the glulam columns, especially the conical steel connections at the column base and top. As of July, work crews were busy putting the finishing touches on Roy Bickell Public School for a fall opening. Barron says, "We're extremely proud of the result, and of Stantec and our hard working trades, who really pulled together to meet our timelines without sacrificing the quality of work. Roy Bickell will fulfill the needs of local students for a long time to come." A LOCATION 10401 Royal Oaks Drive, Grande Prairie, Alberta OWNER/DEVELOPER Grande Prairie Public School District ARCHITECT/STRUCTURAL/ MECHANICAL/ELECTRICAL/ CIVIL CONSULTANT/ LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT Stantec GENERAL CONTRACTOR Fillmore Construction Management Inc. TOTAL SIZE 45,951 square feet TOTAL COST Undisclosed

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