The Calgary CBE School bundle consists of three new K-4 schools for the Calgary Board of Education.
Each new school has a permanent capacity of 600 students. The three new schools are in the Calgary communities of Coventry Hills/Country Hills Village, Cranston and Evergreen. The schools opened for the school year commencing in fall of 2019.
After extensive review of the three proposed K-4 school sites, it was determined in consultation with Alberta Infrastructure and the Calgary Board of Education that the proposed modular classrooms outlined in the RFP would instead be incorporated into permanent construction due to the constrained nature of the sites and challenges with site topography and drainage. For these same reasons, two-story construction was considered for a more holistic, efficient and complete design.
As a way to achieve budgetary, scheduling and future operational efficiencies, the three schools share a single design and will be distinguished by particular site features, colour & materiality, and the unique design of feature building elements. The buildings were designed and constructed in accordance with the Alberta Education School Capital Manual, the Alberta Infrastructure Technical Design Requirements and the Calgary Board of Education Design Guidelines.
Our team developed a single design that fit through rotation and mirroring on all three of the school sites in ways that opened the sites up to safe multi-modal transportation within the community. All three school sit eloquently on their site providing a new centre to the community that is safe, in scale with the neighborhood and in harmony with site context. As part of the personalization of each school to its context, we worked with the school district to detail the entrance and materials used throughout to reflect the neighborhood context.
As part of the province’s mandate to provide more sustainable and energy efficient buildings, the school will achieve LEED Silver certification and will include a Solar Technology System amounting to a total maximum cost of $750,000.