wək̓ʷan̓əs tə syaqʷəm Elementary School in Vancouver, Canada, is a stunning example of innovative school design. The building, constructed with sustainable cross-laminated timber, features warm, inviting spaces that prioritize natural light and connection to the outdoors.
Most school buildings today are utilitarian bunkers of scuffed vinyl and concrete block. But imagine a school where sunlight streams onto walls of honeyed timber, classrooms are nestled into home-like clusters, and the whole building feels like an invitation to learn. This is wək̓ʷan̓əs tə syaqʷəm Elementary School, designed by architects HCMA for the Vancouver School Board.
The school, formerly known as Sir Matthew Begbie Elementary, got a new name – a Musqueam phrase that means “the sun rising over the horizon” – at the same time as the new building. (The Musqueam’s traditional language, on a journey of revitalization, has a set of orthographic symbols to write the sounds, rather than the Latin alphabet used in English.) Opened this fall, the building challenges contemporary expectations of what public architecture can be. Located in the northeast Vancouver area of Hastings-Sunrise, the 36,436 square-foot, $22.4-million school building presents a cheerful face to the neighbours; its grey siding is spiced with accents of lime green. At recess time on a late-fall day, students clambered up the side of a slope and careened back down the hillside.Panels of cross-laminated timber made from spruce, pine and fir cover much of the interior walls. HCMA’s team strove to leave the wood visible wherever possible.Indoors, the front office balanced the happy chaos of a typical elementary school with the warmth of a Nordic ski chalet. School principal Jim Rutley greeted me and some of the building’s architects. The scene was typical in many ways: non-descript office furniture and posters bearing life-affirming slogans on the walls. But the walls themselves told a story. Panels of cross-laminated timber made from spruce, pine and fir, they gave off a warm glow and a scent of the forest. “The smell is usually the first thing that hits people,” Mr. Rutley said. Throughout the school, he said, “the wood gives students the sense that this is a special place.
SCHOOL DESIGN SUSTAINABLE ARCHITECTURE CROSS-LAMINATED TIMBER LEARNING ENVIRONMENT VANCOUVER
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