St. Dominic Elementary School

Project Team :

Bryden Martel Architects - Architect of Record

WSP - Civil / Structural / Mechanical / Electrical Engineers

James B. Lennox & Associates Inc - Landscape Architect

Description :

St Dominic is a single storey with six kindergarten classrooms, sixteen classrooms, a main office, learning commons, and double gym.

The repeat site plan was adapted to suit an unusual shaped site. That cornered on a centrally planned court and residential park.  The outdoor learning spaces are adjacent to this this park.

St. Cecilia, St Dominic is one storey in height and is punctuated by a tower over the front entrance. The tower creates an incredible bright sun filled atrium as one enters the school. It also creates a street  presence and is a beacon to the community. It also houses a flat screen display that can be used for communicating with the community. 

The architecture itself became a learning opportunity with structural elements exposed and finishes cut away to reveal what is behind them.  A window into the Boiler Room showcases colour-coded pipes, ducts, and equipment that are explained on an educational display on the wall outside the room.  

Unique to St. Dominic the full extent of the low and high gymnasium roofs where made use for fixed solar panels that fed power into the hydro grid. Internal displays create a learning opportunity of providing real time read-outs of the power being generated.

The school is brightly coloured, exuberant and playful. There are curved walls in the learning commons, floor patterns undulate down the corridors, and acoustic clouds mimic the floor patterns and frame the learning pods and niches throughout the school. The architecture is intended to inspire curiosity and learning.