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École primaire de la Rocade
By : PRISME architecture + Francis Lussier Architecte
GRANDS PRIX DU DESIGN – 16th edition
Discipline : Architecture
Categories : Public Building / School & Preschool Education Building : Bronze Certification
A participatory environment in its community – It is in the register of a new conception of schools that is inclusive, playful, sustainable and motivating, that our project to expand the Rocade Elementary School in Saint-Dominique falls. Saint-Dominique is a village where the citizens are very involved and united, which is why the project consisted of the development of an innovative model of co-financing and participative management by the municipality, the Saint-Hyacinthe school service center and the Quebec Ministry of Education. This project offers the population and the students of the school a modern and welcoming library, a functional gymnasium as well as a multipurpose room allowing the organization of a wide range of activities. This expansion also fills a gap in classroom space and partially modernizes its aging facilities.
An integration in contrast – The architecture of this expansion is of modern expression whose style contrasts with the existing school by its volumes and materials. The new addition, meanwhile, was joined from a non-conforming staircase from the 1969 portion. In order to create a fluid corridor between the two buildings, the staircase was demolished and rebuilt adjacent to this corridor.
Like the evolution of the school’s various construction phases, the facades of the expansion integrate in contrast with the existing. Contemporary in tone, the new facades are made of light and dark colored brick, curtain walling, imitation wood aluminum siding, and glossy white fiber cement siding. The wood imitation aluminum and white fibro-cement cladding are mainly located on the main façade to recall the chromatic of the adjacent buildings on Main Street. A curtain wall on the gymnasium volume articulates the volume allowing natural light to penetrate to the north and lowers the spatial boundaries between the interior and exterior.
Integration into the Built Environment – In order to integrate the expansion into the surrounding village landscape, the primary intention was to create a façade for the school as well as the library on Main Street while respecting the scale of the built environment in the area. The library was therefore designed on one level in order to respect the height of the nearby buildings. As for the shape and slope of the roof, it creates a link between the environment and the expansion by attenuating the volumetry of the gymnasium, which is more imposing. Finally, the use of a wall-to-wall glass wall along the entire length of the gymnasium helps to lighten the presence of this strong volume on the street while creating a perspective on the interior activities taking place there.
Developing a Sense of Belonging – More than anything else, the architects wanted to make this school an exemplary school, conducive to educational success, designed to allow students and faculty to develop a sense of belonging to their institution, in a safe and healthy context taking into account the physical and societal context. Because at the primary level, academic success depends above all on the quality of teaching and learning spaces the school team then becomes the transmission belt between spaces and pedagogy, because it is in the classroom and through the teacher that academic success is articulated and defined.
An energy efficient school – Finally, this school wants and needed to be eco-responsible, sustainable, supports conceptual, technical, and material choices based on a 75-year life cycle that takes into account the gray energy and disposition of materials as well as operability and minimal maintenance in time and money. All of this is intended to ensure the sustainability of the building as well as to reduce energy consumption, limit the waste of drinking water, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and ensure optimal air quality. The school has 18 geothermal wells that provide year-round heating and cooling for the expansion.
Redynamizing the heart of the village – Now with an assertive street presence, the library and gym participate in Main Street activities. Although the environment created by the architects is as much for the students as for the population of the town of Saint-Dominique, the conceptual precepts also invite universality.
Large windows that invite the massive entry of natural light, links with nature by proposing openings to the outside and development of green schoolyards, but also the ergonomics of colorful and playful spaces inviting the students and the population to invest and feel at home.
Collaboration
Architect : PRISME architecture
Architect : Francis Lussier Architecte
General Contractor : Construction Gératek Ltée
Manufacturer - Distributor : Thaler
Manufacturer - Distributor : Ideal revêtement
Manufacturer - Distributor : Dizal
Manufacturer - Distributor : Tarkett
Manufacturer - Distributor : Armstrong
Manufacturer - Distributor : Corflex
