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.

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. (more…)