Longfield-Davidson Heights Secondary School - Addition

Ottawa, Ontario

Ottawa-Carleton District School Board

Original School Designed By EJC

The goal of the project was to provide a three-storey addition to the existing secondary school that would offer a comprehensive program to approximately 700 students enrolled in grades seven to eight. The Ottawa Carleton District School Board requested a multi-disciplinary facility that will provide a collaborative and sustainable learning environment. The program includes twenty-one regular classrooms, four science and technology classrooms, two art rooms, a drama classroom, two music rooms, a special education classroom, and an exercise room that includes a basketball court.

A two-storey atrium bridges the three-storey addition to the existing school. Recessed floor areas within the corridors and the atrium as a whole allow space for student collaboration. The drama and art rooms are separated from the atrium with floor to ceiling glazing allowing the students to publicly display their creative processes and achievements. The design incorporates glazed staircases, skylights above the atrium, and large vertical windows in the exercise room to allow natural daylight to penetrate all aspects of the addition creating moments of connection with the outdoors.

Integration of Sustainable Design: The school was designed using LEED Design Guidelines. EJC team’s in-house LEED Professionals facilitated a “Green Development Workshop”. Sustainable design concepts: Sustainable Site Planning, Water Efficiency, Energy Efficiency, Conservation of Materials and Resources, Indoor Environmental Quality and Innovation in the Design Process were implemented into the design. The project is able to obtain LEED Certification if desired by the Owners.

Technical Innovations Through Building Materials And Systems: Building materials and systems were selected based on the criteria of sustainability, cost effectiveness, energy efficiency and durability. Building envelope specialists were consulted to determine how to maximize building energy performance. The three-storey portion of the building is a steel structure and the one-storey portions are load bearing masonry. The split in building materials and construction was chosen based on the bearing capacity of the soils and allowed the General Contractor to phase work throughout the winter months.