P.S.0: AN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, 2010

Completed with Tristan Thom

The conceptual and sustainable driving force for our Waterfront Primary School is water itself. Located at the foot of Parliament St. in the East Donlands, the site’s history and importance is intricately bound to Lake Ontario. The land on which the school will sit was once underwater, having been dredged up as industry lay claim to the lakeshore at the end of the 19th and turn of the 20th centuries.

With water as our design inspiration, the building defers to the datum line of the lake by shifting the main public floor of the school 3 meters below grade – an approximation of the average level of water in Lake Ontario. This new ground zero is the point from which and about which our schools orients itself. An open-air courtyard with four shallow pools and other water features is the literal and conceptual center of the school. A long reflecting pool located along the north side of the building, also 3 meters below grade, explicitly articulates this downward shift on the exterior face of the building. All public, administrative and communal activities take place on the lowest level, termed Floor 0, with classrooms and learning spaces occupying the additional two stories of the structure. Four vertical circulation cores arranged in a loose pinwheel formation cut through each wing of the school, providing direct access between the exterior of the building and the courtyard. While the exterior façade of the school is detailed in a visually and materially heavy palette, the courtyard façade is articulated in translucent U-channel glass to create a smooth, pale aqua effect. The circulation cores, also registered in this lighter palette, selectively bisect the monolithic exterior façade and allude to the interior life and character of the building.