Natural Light - College Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes
Space efficiency and student ideas remake college
The gymnasium extension with reuse of an existing handicap ramp. The design maximizes space efficiency for the most minimal footprint – a basic of green building – and economized on the construction budget.
by Daniel Smith .In 2003, the Collège Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes was both celebrating its 50th anniversary and facing major difficulties: its location between two highly competitive private schools, a series of problems related to poor building maintenance, bad use of space, and unattractive settings threatened its viability. In order to fulfill its mission, the college needed to attract a new clientele and increase its enrollment from 600 to 950.
A complete survey of the existing building was carried out and a five year program proposed for urgent renovations. It became apparent that the qualitative issues such as fragmentation of related uses, overcrowding, and poor lighting were harming organizational and operational efficiency.
Focus groups and other consultations with staff and students identified a wish list of improvements, both physical and spiritual that were then consolidated into design objectives, and ultimately a ten step implementation plan.
Colour, light and other responses
The students asked for an indoor environment of more colour and natural light. Directions also included redefining the public identity of the college, and establishing a sense of tradition that could be carried forward through successive generations of students and staff.
The design team’s response was an attempt at ‘place making’, involving careful interventions, the redefinition of exterior and interior space, and the visual interconnection of the different activities of the college.
Central both to the design, and to the redefining of the college’s identity is the new athletic garden. Embraced by new and renovated sections of the college, it forms the main student entry to the complex. The new gymnasium extension being the “boîte à énergie” [energy box] on one side, and the new cafe/theatre extension the “coffret à emotions” [box of feelings] on the other.
With trees to the north, the new courtyard is fully defined and enhanced by various mounds formed from earth recovered from the excavations. The bleachers inside the gymnasium not only witness the sporting events inside, but also give a view of the athletic garden.
The cafe/theatre extension is supported by a series of angled steel columns visible on the inside. The columns are also exposed to the exterior by coloured fissures of glass allowing the light to filter in by day and emitting the drama of activity by night. Constructed with a mezzanine, the cafe/theatre is a multi-purpose performance space, cafeteria, and student agora.
Internally, the corridors will be transformed in a subsequent phase into a repository for the collective memory of the college, using connecting glass cases to display trophies, photos and other memorabilia along time lines of colour.
Environmental Features
Criteria for materials selection included: the use of natural, durable, exposed finishes, minimizing the use of drywall and acoustic tiles; using the built conditions of the school and giving them new value; reusing bricks and blocks from demolished walls for new construction; and working directly with Recyc-Quebec to recycle all demolition materials that cannot be reused on site.
Where possible, the mechanical, electrical, and sprinkler conduits have been left exposed on the ceilings of the renovated corridors which also incorporate a linear fluorescent lighting scheme including fixtures recovered from other parts of the school. The exposed structure and building systems provides a narrative of the project that can be read by all the building users.
The concrete blocks used in the cafeteria are reclaimed from deconstructed parts of the college and are reversed and /or refinished in the new construction. The clay bricks from demolished walls have been pulverised and will be used for the athletics track.
The use of Ipe wood cladding creates a warm and durable exterior finish for the cafe/theatre and part of the gymnasium.
A tight program, the use of multi-functional space and the stacking of floor plates reduced the required building footprint. Thus, 95% of the trees were preserved on the site. The excavated soil was reused for landscaping, and to level the athletics garden.
The new athletics garden [originally an asphalt parking lot] will provide pervious soil and planted areas to help absorb water runoff.
The existing electrical and ventilation system has been rationalized. All classrooms have both natural light and operable windows. At the basement level, full interior glass walls were integrated into the layout so that daylight can penetrate into the central core.
To conserve water, no on-site irrigation systems were installed. In the new facilities, low flow toilets and faucets were used and a phase out plan for existing fixtures [faucets, toilets and showers] is in place.
The next and final phase will be the rationalization of the support spaces, i.e. administration department, library and teachers room. Already, enrolment is on the rise, placing the college on a more secure footing, and bringing with it the expectation of a productive and sustainable future.
Credits
- Client: Collège Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes
- Architect: Jean-Gilles Lemieux Architecte and Smith Vigeant Architectes, Montreal
- Mechanical and Electrical Engineer: Groupe Farley Inc., Pointe-Aux-Trembles QC
- Structural Engineer: Nicolet Chartrand Knoll ltée, Montreal
- Landscape Architect: Groupe Rousseau Lefebvre, Laval
- General Contractor: Construction Yergeau Cart, Montreal
- Photos: Studio Yves Beaulieu, Montreal [photos 8, 10 Smith Vigneant Architectes]
Materials
- Steel perimeter columns, roof trusses and roof deck, interior concrete columns and poured-in-place slabs sealed with water-based finish; exterior wall: Ipe wood siding 22mm on vertical furring, air barrier, plywood 16mm, rigid insulation, metal studs 150mm, R20 wool insulation, furring, gypsum board 16mm painted with low VOC paint; coloured Solar Gard film on slot windows.
- Concrete blocks used in cafeteria reclaimed from deconstructed parts of the college and reversed and /or refinished; clay bricks from demolished walls pulverised and used for the athletics track.