The WRDSB retained LGA Architectural Partners to design a new 20,000-sf addition to the existing school and to design strategic interior renovations to the gym, library and front office to accommodate the additional student load. The classrooms in a new Grades 7-8 wing connect students to the world around them. The transparency of this wing enables children to see their peers studying and playing, which is key to developing empathy and understanding. Being able to see into classrooms is a useful tool as well for the principal, who can walk the hallways for 30 minutes and get a rich sense of what’s happening.
We added flexible work spaces by creating learning pods within the in-between space between classrooms and the hallway. Benches and niches offer gathering places for students and staff. Even lockers were an opportunity to draw connections, by using colour to connect spaces. Above each locker is a pin-up board allowing students’ work to be showcased—a low-cost solution to bringing character and community into the school. There’s also an acoustical benefit.
The addition also created a courtyard that became the new location for the kindergarten playground.
The new wing features sun shading overhangs for the new classroom windows to reduce summer heat gain. The corridors have been configured so that they receive extensive natural light. The construction was phased to allow the existing school to function normally during the entire construction period; interior renovations were completed over two summer recesses.
