Olympic Park Elementary School
Graduate | Undergraduate
Studio | Elective
1st | 2nd | 3rd Year, 1st | 2nd Semester (Fall 2020)
Partner: Maria Teleman
Instructor: Mariel Collard Arias
For this remote studio, the task was to design an elementary school and community center on the site of a current golf course in the Olympic Park area of Montreal.
Our school is primarily defined by the curvilinear hallway that runs through it, connecting all elements of the building's program while separating the loud, public spaces from the quiet, private spaces. The existing treelines on the site were utilized to further separate the school and its various outdoor spaces into four quadrants, the first to be used by the community center and the remaining three by each of the student cycles.
There is a loud-quiet gradient as one moves from the communal quadrant to the central courtyards and outward radially.
Beginning in the communal quadrant, which is shared by students and strangers alike, the spaces become more private, moving to the central courtyards shared by each cycle, then collaborative spaces shared by each grade, and finally classrooms and outdoor learning areas shared by each individual class.
The hallway loops around the entire building, connecting both the school and the community center. As students progress in their studies, they progress through the physical building as well, transitioning clockwise each year to a new classroom with a different collaborative space, study areas and outdoor courtyard and learning area. As students circulate through the hallway, they experience different spatial qualities defined by the spaces along its periphery. Wall-less collaborative spaces, study rooms and changing rooms branch off of the hallway on either side upon entering a cycle, changing the spatial experience of the hallway, and shared spaces such as the lunch room are spaced more sporadically throughout to enhance this effect.
Another design element to note is the feature skylight system that runs throughout the hallway, composed of wooden louvers that are angled differently to enhance the spatial qualities of the adjacent spaces below.
Structural Drawings:
Lighting Analysis/Diagrams:
