The first school we visited was Fraser Heights. The school had a clear entrance, with visitors entering to a clearly defined office on the right, the library and career centre on the left, and a wide , large cafeteria meeting space straight ahead. The hallway’s were wide and brightly lit with natural lighting. Half lockers lined the halls, with single height locker islands providing a secondary eating and meeting area for students. The combination of cement block and 
maple wall coverings gave a hard wearing interior space that still looked very new. The classrooms and computer labs were of amply size as were the student washrooms. There were two gymnasium spaces. The larger space was smaller than the current CSS gym. The smaller gym had a medium sized weight room overlooking it.
Unique to this school plan was the science “super lab”. This was an over sized four class lab space with smaller classroom space attached. The thinking behind this design is that students use the classroom space for a majority of classroom learning, moving into the lab space just for that aspect of the lesson. This large shared
space allowed for labs to be set up and waiting for students. The large size of the super lab would allow up to four classes to be using the space at once. In practice, it appeared that two classes using the space at once was more typical. The school drama space was a modified lecture theatre space. This 200 seat space had ample stage space but minimal wing space and set/prop storage. The high lighting grid had to be accessed with an over sized ladder. The metalwork and woodwork classes were smaller than the current CSS classrooms but clearly popular course choices. The school had two large art rooms but only one was in use. The darkroom had been dismantled. Ceramics were located in an outdoor area off of the art room. Storage at the school appeared to be a challenge, with records and seasonal supplies having to be stored in non-designated areas.
The second school visited that day was Panorama Ridge. This impromptu visit allowed us to see modifications to the Fraser Heights plan. Examples of this were minor changes to the seating in the drama room, the staff room being moved from the end of one of the hallways to a space overlooking the student cafeteria, and plumbing lab located in a shop space.
maple wall coverings gave a hard wearing interior space that still looked very new. The classrooms and computer labs were of amply size as were the student washrooms. There were two gymnasium spaces. The larger space was smaller than the current CSS gym. The smaller gym had a medium sized weight room overlooking it.Unique to this school plan was the science “super lab”. This was an over sized four class lab space with smaller classroom space attached. The thinking behind this design is that students use the classroom space for a majority of classroom learning, moving into the lab space just for that aspect of the lesson. This large shared
space allowed for labs to be set up and waiting for students. The large size of the super lab would allow up to four classes to be using the space at once. In practice, it appeared that two classes using the space at once was more typical. The school drama space was a modified lecture theatre space. This 200 seat space had ample stage space but minimal wing space and set/prop storage. The high lighting grid had to be accessed with an over sized ladder. The metalwork and woodwork classes were smaller than the current CSS classrooms but clearly popular course choices. The school had two large art rooms but only one was in use. The darkroom had been dismantled. Ceramics were located in an outdoor area off of the art room. Storage at the school appeared to be a challenge, with records and seasonal supplies having to be stored in non-designated areas.
The second school visited that day was Panorama Ridge. This impromptu visit allowed us to see modifications to the Fraser Heights plan. Examples of this were minor changes to the seating in the drama room, the staff room being moved from the end of one of the hallways to a space overlooking the student cafeteria, and plumbing lab located in a shop space.
The final school visit of the day was Sullivan Heights. Again minor modifications were made to the original Fraser Heights plan. Most unique to the space was the addition of the Bell Centre for the Performing Arts. This 1100 seat theatre is located in the centre of the school. A box office was located at the front of the school in location of the career centre and the central cafeteria area had small modifications to accommodate theatre patrons. The Bell Centre was not used as a day to day classroom space. The drama classes were located in a choir room converted to a black box theatre space. Also unique to this school was a basement art level. In the basement area were two art rooms and a dance studio. Kilns were located outside in a secured area.The shared design of the schools was interesting and allowed for improvements on each new construction.
The angled walls that ran as a theme through all the schools while architecturally interesting made for challenges with things like book shelves and cabinets.
To see more photos of Fraser Heights, click here.
To see more photos of Panorama Ridge, click here.
To see more photos of Sullivan Heights, click here.
