Gymnase de l’École Saint-Victor
By : Groupe Architecture MB
GRANDS PRIX DU DESIGN – 14th edition
Discipline : Architecture
Categories : Public Building / Sports & Leisure Building
Categories : Public Building / School & Preschool Education Building : Bronze Winner
Categories : Special Award / Wood featured in architecture : Gold Winner
The Saint-Victor Elementary School’s gymnasium is a simple building, integrated within its context. A rocky cliff topped with trees stands behind the site, to the south. The overal composition of the project evokes this landscape; the building comprises a mineral base topped with a wooden volume. The volumetry of the building progressively deploys itself in height, from the existing school towards the back of the site, evoking the surrounding topography. The outside materials used, a vertical cladding made of Eastern white cedar, and an orange cimentious panel cladding, are simple and are particularly well suited to the demanding coastal climate. The gymnasium is sited in a precise way; its shifted position in relation to the existing building allows natural light to still reach into the classrooms and the surrounding houses, gives the gymnasium an urban presence, and defines and bonify two distinct outside spaces, one for active sports, and one for outdoor teaching. On the inside, wood is omnipresent, and natural light was controled and optimized to control glare and solar heat gain, creating an perfect atmosphere for indoor sports.The spatial organization is simple and efficient. A fully transparent space connects the school, the extension and the exterior courtyards. The architectural journey, from the existing school, is punctuated by contractions and deployments that magnifies the ultimate point that is the gymnasium.
Collaboration
Architect : Groupe Architecture MB
Engineering : Innovation Amerik
Engineering : LGT
General Contractor : Kamco Construction
