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École L’Agora-Tourterelle
By : Menkès Shooner Dagenais LeTourneux Architectes
GRANDS PRIX DU DESIGN – 14th edition
Discipline : Architecture
Categories : Public Building / School & Preschool Education Building : Gold Certification
L'Agora-Tourterelle is an alternative school designed with an innovative approach that brings together approximately 450 students from kindergarten to secondary 5. Located on the grounds of the existing Pierre-Laporte elementary school, the new four-level building (5,750 m²) includes classrooms, service areas and community spaces, some of which are accessible to the community, such as a large library, a gymnasium with a stage, and a culinary workshop. The schoolyard includes, among other things, a tiered outdoor classroom and workshop platforms conducive to discovery and exploration.
The volume of the building provides the necessary amplitude for the creation of an open and luminous central space, which quickly became one of the emblematic places of the new school. Spanning two levels, it connects the dining area to collaborative spaces through natural wood benches.
Through the orientation of the building, the optimal openings, as well as the choice to incorporate numerous glass walls, light is omnipresent in the project. Whether it is natural or artificial, it plays a major role in the composition of a living environment where children and adolescents evolve through multiple learning experiences. The color filters integrated into the walls seem to make the light waltz. Combined with the materials, the brightly colored finishes, the transparency, and the lighting fixtures which diffuse a delicate light, they create playful, and welcoming spaces.
Collaboration
Architect : Menkès Shooner Dagenais LeTourneux Architectes
