Client
Calvin Christian School

This new 33,500 ft² independent school in Caledonia has a capacity of 250 students, accommodating Kindergarten to Grade 8 and is designed to be built in two phases around an existing, aging school building.

The school is organized by wrapping around a garden courtyard that serves as the entrance, with a covered canopy extending from drop-off to the entrance. The garden is designed as a community gathering place, and includes seating alcoves and a grassy lawn with generous landscaping and trees to soften the walkways.

Classrooms have sloping roofs with lightwells at key locations along the corridors to bring in daylight. The main walls are brick in two colours for a dynamic composition. The sloping roofs evoke agricultural buildings.

The classrooms wings are bisected by a central gathering and display space with grades K-3 on one side and grades 4-8 on the other. Opening onto the gathering space are two ‘edVenture’ studios – multi-purpose, creative spaces designed for a range of activities including art, science, music, and drama. These focal studios and their program are glazed to the corridors and have display cases to showcase student work. Two sets of washrooms are provided, scaled for each of these age groups.

All corridors end in glassy lounges with window seats, and a covered porch for shade and weather protection.

The kindergarten classrooms have glassy window seat bays facing into the courtyard, with a shared entrance from the fenced garden play areas.

The existing school gym is repurposed as a double height entrance atrium and library space while the remainder of the existing school is demolished. The library/learning commons enfronts the atrium as a focal point to both the entrance and drop off area. It features a corner bay window seat for reading and a large glassy corner study bay complete with a feature fireplace.

An entry canopy with sculptural steel columns, wood accents and stone bases creates a welcoming entrance and strong sense of place for the school.