Lethbridge’s new school big on colour and renewable energy

Lethbridge’s new school big on colour and renewable solar energy

BY CINDY CHAN

Anew elementary school in Lethbridge is not just incorporating learning elements inside the classroom but with its infrastructure as well.

There has been a lot of growth in the south area of Lethbridge, but it hasn’t seen a new school in a long time. Dr. Robert Plaxton Elementary School was built as part of a small new community called Southbrook. The school is a brand new, 5,000-squaremetre, single-story building with eight additional modular units (four on each side of the building). Construction on the facility began in April 2019 and wrapped up in January 2021. According to Jesse Potrie, architect at FWBA Architects, and Theresa Yauck, senior interior design technologist at FWBA Architects, the school’s exterior has two different patterns on the outside with a common light mix and dark mix with medium brick, making it more visually interesting than a large monolithic mass. Each of the entrances have heavy, solid colour-block canopies; one is a teal-green, one is orange-red. The colours help the students with wayfinding and navigation. The school also includes an outdoor classroom and playground with an energy sources feature. “This feature shows how alternative energy such as solar, wind and geothermal work and how we can contribute to a greener future,” Potrie explains. Additionally, the rooftop is covered with solar arrays and the gym has solar panels on its south- and west-facing walls. “Each of those arrays feeds into a display on the interior that shows how much energy is being generated, how many trees are being saved.” Potrie says they also customdesigned scooter racks for the students because they couldn’t find any manufactured product for that purpose. “One thing that’s cool are the iridescent aluminum composite panels that reflect prisms of colour all around,” Potrie says. “We wanted this whole school to be a teaching tool.” The interior of Dr. Robert Plaxton Elementary School, which houses 23 classrooms for kindergarten to Grade 5 students, includes a “Piet Mondrian design for the flooring consisting of a white canvas with thin, black lines and bold colours,” says Yauck. This is all part of the different coloured sections for wayfinding, so students know where they are at all times. “The colours were chosen for this particular education space and age of children; we wanted to create dynamic environments but also find this balance of peace, so it doesn’t feel like they’re

in a McDonald’s,” Yauck says with a laugh. “There are plenty of grounding colours, like the Mondrian black lines.” The ceiling also includes some interesting visual elements. Yauck says the ceilings have baffles that echo the pattern of the floor. Large windows surround a gathering space that functions as a ‘town’ centre. Connected to the gathering space are a servery, two project areas with sliding walls, and a learning commons. Yauck says the gymnasium is also adjacent to the area. Its size was increased from a standard-sized gym through a partnership with the City of Lethbridge. It features a larger basketball court for community use. FWBA Architects has been designing schools throughout southern Alberta for decades with a focus on integrating educational imperatives into the way the environment is built. Dr. Robert Plaxton Elementary School is the latest addition to this cadre of learning facilities. For more information on Dr. Robert Plaxton Elementary School, visit drp.lethsd.ab.ca. The FWBA Architects site is www.fwbarch.com. n

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