Play and learn at the new St. Kateri Tekakwitha Academy BY CINDY CHAN a smooth process, aside from the fact that the summer of 2019 had been one of the wettest summers they’ve experienced in years. Between June to August, they had tracked about 56 days of rain. However, they were able to work through it with their team and partnership with the consultants and Government of Alberta. From the structural steel, they put up steel stud exterior walls and the building envelope to make the structure air- and water-tight. “Once the slabs were poured, the mechanical and electrical equipment were flown in. The
M
mechanical room is the lifeline of the building,” Richards says.
orinville’s newest
providing much needed student
Catholic school
spaces to serve this growing
has officially
population and provide an
opened its doors
environment that supports current
to accommodate
21st-century learning principles.”
a growing population.
The Government of Alberta
St. Kateri Tekakwitha Academy is
approved and funded the new St.
a K-6 Catholic elementary school
Kateri school and construction
with a capacity of 350 students.
began in April 2019.
According to John Richards,
Richards says the project started
project manager at JEN COL
out with foundations, which was
Construction, “They were really
concrete pile with grade beam
happy and overjoyed when we
structural steel and a masonry
turned the school over to them.”
structural gym.
“Morinville is a growing bedroom
“The gym was where we focused
community to Edmonton,”
on the actual superstructure; the
Anneliese Fris, principal at Group2
masonry walls for the gym went
Architecture Interior Design Ltd.
up first,” Richards explains. “The
says. “The school is located on the
structural steel took place in three
south side of Morinville in an area
phases that worked its way around
that is experiencing significant
and tying into the gym.”
residential growth. The school is
Richards says the construction was
20
FACILITY FOCUS • Fall 2021
Drywall came after the interior construction, as well as remainder of the interior finishes. “There are a few specialty items, like overhead doors for the classrooms, and large operable partitions that allow school staff to separate and open the spaces up or divide the spaces as necessary for the school’s operation,” Richards adds. The 3,159-square-metre school is a one-story, 21st–century learning facility. Fris says the gymnasium is at the centre of the school, with two wings on either side. The south wing includes two pods of classrooms, while the north wing has a classroom pod and administration suite. The classroom pods contain grade divisions; the northwest pod
