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Primary school des Semis
By : Leclerc architectes
GRANDS PRIX DU DESIGN – 17th edition
Discipline : Interior Design
Categories : Education, Institution & Healthcare / Elementary School & Kindergarten : Gold Certification
L’école des Semis is a new elementary school, unique in Canada, which opened its doors last year in the Vauquelin sector of Vieux-Longueuil. Some 650 students will thrive in this modern, wood-and-light environment, which will also benefit the community. In fact, two-storey wooden schools already exist in the Belle Province, but none has three. This innovative elementary school project is the first three-storey school building with a wooden structure in Canada. Over five years in the making, it took to see the result of this construction.
The building features 24 primary classes, 4 kindergarten classes and 3 4-year-old kindergarten classes, daycare facilities, a double gymnasium, a multi-purpose room, a single palestra, a library, a music room, administrative offices and teachers’ quarters
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To be able to go ahead with this particular project an application for equivalent measures to the Régie du bâtiment was necessary. This application demonstrated that the school, with its wooden structure, was as safe for users as if it had been built with a non-combustible steel or concrete structure, and that there was no danger of keeping much of the wooden structure exposed in the teaching spaces
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Given that this is a combustible product, the design team did what was necessary to highlight and keep exposed as many wooden structural elements as possible. For example, 100% of the structural elements are visible in the gymnasium, 60% of the beams and wood decking are visible in the classrooms, and the height of the floors, which is lower than that of a steel construction, gives a human dimension to the spaces.
The facilities also enjoy exceptional brightness, thanks in particular to the three-storey skylight at the heart of the school and the abundant fenestration in the classrooms, gymnasium. All rooms are bathed in natural light, including circulation areas.
The use of wood and its enhancement are the foundations of the new elementary school project. It was the visionary nature of the Centre de services scolaires (CSS) Marie-Victorin and its willingness to bring this project to fruition by providing the financial means to the professionals responsible for the design and execution of the project that enabled the CSS to obtain the optimal solution that met its needs and objectives: to build the first three-storey school in Canada with a solid wood structure.
The use of wood and its enhancement are the foundations of the new elementary school project.
Collaboration
