This text is part of the special Public School booklet
In the Limoilou district, in Quebec, the first lab-school welcomed its students at the start of the school year, from 4-year-old kindergarten to 6e year. Each square meter is designed to promote the well-being and learning of children at the Stadacona primary school, whose architecture certainly shakes up the codes.
On August 29, 317 children took over the bright multi-level building, whose architectural concept was designed by Jérôme Lapierre and the organization Lab-École, and carried out by the firm ABCP architecture. Pupils’ movement is optimized by the many stairs, the large courtyard, the green spaces and an outdoor classroom on the roof. Its area exceeds 30% that of a traditional school.
“There is an exceptional panorama of the city, describes Pierre Thibault, architect and co-founder of the Lab-École. It’s like a geography lesson for the child who, by simply looking out the window, develops an understanding of the territory. »
Learning streets replace the traditional corridors. “The classes are only on one side of this wide corridor, which becomes a place of learning and movement,” explains Pierre Thibault. There are side alcoves for sitting, furniture for collaborating and for eating. The adjacent classes have windows to promote differentiated teaching, that is to say that a group can go to work in the street under the watchful eye of the teacher.
On the upper floors, second and third cycle students have more access to “learning communities”, common spaces around which the classes are articulated, and which are used for interdisciplinary or team projects.
Flexibility and peace of mind
All the furniture has been redesigned and chosen to be flexible. No desks, therefore, but a variety of seats and tables that maximize space and comfort for children. In the classrooms, the furniture is integrated into the walls and moves easily thanks to the wheels.
“In Copenhagen, we saw that the students had moments devoted to dreams, which they then had to recount,” says Mr. Thibault. This stimulates the imagination and allows some children who are not the best in other subjects to discover their full potential. The bleachers, in the heart of the school, allow this kind of activity. The huge island, at the very top of the bleachers, can host cooking workshops and various projects to teach about healthy eating. On evenings and weekends, community organizations can even take over the premises.
Particular attention has also been paid to the acoustics. A cozy atmosphere reigns even in the gymnasium, where neither the children nor the teaching staff need to amplify the sound of their voices to speak. “It creates a form of quite incredible tranquility and changes everything in terms of quality of life and teamwork,” enthuses Pierre Thibault.
Genesis of the project
When Pierre Thibault, Pierre Lavoie and Ricardo Larrivee founded the non-profit organization Lab-École in 2017, the objective was clear and ambitious: to design the school of tomorrow. Like the three men, one architect, the second triathlete and the third chef, the school environment had to embody a space for collaboration promoting good nutrition and a healthy and active lifestyle.
To materialize this vision, the organization went through a long phase of research-creation and analysis, then through a consultation process to determine the best practices to promote educational and academic success. “The architectural program of the Quebec school had not changed for the past 50 years, a modernization was necessary,” says Pierre Thibault.
Workshops involving hundreds of young students, teaching and research staff have made it possible to draw the outlines of new needs. “The children wanted trees to reduce heat islands, benches and slides,” says the architect. These are relatively simple things, but which did not exist. »
A laboratory of ideas
The teams identified what was being done best in Quebec, but also in Japan, Finland and Sweden, in particular. The results of the research and consultation work have given rise to several publications, so that all those who design schools in Quebec and elsewhere have access to this knowledge.
The Stadacona school is the first to open its doors among six establishments located in Maskinongé, Rimouski, Saguenay, Shefford, Montreal and Gatineau. A working committee has been created for each of the Lab-Schools, in order to adapt the educational project according to specific needs. “It’s important to personalize and not to develop a generic school, which was often done before: we used the same school plan and duplicated it in different places,” explains Pierre Thibault.
A research group made up of members from five universities will conduct a retrospective evaluation to demonstrate the impact of these innovations on educational success.
This special content was produced by the Special Publications team of the To have to, relating to marketing. The editorial staff of Le Devoir did not take part.