CANADIAN ARCHITECT 12/21
48
AWARD OF MERIT
ÉCOLE VAL-MARTIN Laval, Québec Chevalier Morales
Located at the centre of a resource-poor neighbourhood in Laval, a city north of Montreal, École Val-Martin transforms an abandoned big-box grocery store into a playful centre of learning for primary school children. This project takes a stance on the ever-relevant issue of suburban sprawl by proposing an alternate to new construction. It tackles several important questions: How can architects and their clients actively participate in remodelling the existing urban fabric, instead of contributing to the growing ecological footprint of the suburbs? Can we recycle and adapt
existing structures to imagine progressive schools for young children? How could this impact the education system in Quebec and beyond? The project is inspired by Schola, a Quebec research initiative that aims to give a second life to existing schools. This project, too, proposes to give a second life to an existing structure—but in a novel way. The first main design question was how to bring light to the centre of a building with a large, square footprint. A courtyard was introduced to bring light to key spaces including the library, as well as to create a tranquil outdoor space in the middle of the building.
Peaked forms lend a playful touch to the exterior and courtyard elevations of the new primary school, which adaptively reuses an abandoned big-box grocery store. The courtyard brings daylight to the adjacent library and kindergarten classrooms; all of the school’s learning and activity spaces include windows or skylights.
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CA Dec 21.indd 48
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2021-11-17 12:43 PM