The Serpentins School is designed as a community space for sharing knowledge and resources, closely connected to the surrounding nature – a playground, park, garden, and greenhouse – evolving with the seasons.
The building stretches linearly along Boily Street, then curves to the north to define the courtyard with its south and west facades. The main entrance widens towards the curved façade, offering continuous views of the landscape. The courtyard, where children gather during recess, is the focal point of the school, surrounded by a linear greenhouse connected to the building's secondary entrance. The courtyard features a small vegetated mound with trees providing shaded areas and paved pathways running through it. The south-facing greenhouse serves as an experimental garden and a space for learning about vegetable farming in a northern climate. To the south of the greenhouse, connected to St-Joachim Park, a public vegetable garden is open to the community for harvest during the summer when the school is closed. Pathways throughout the site provide easy access to this shared space with the public.
The classrooms are divided into four distinct areas: preschool, primary cycle 1, primary cycle 2, and primary cycle 3, allowing each age group to claim their own space. The younger children occupy the two floors of the south wing, while the older students are in the two floors of the west wing. Each cycle has four classrooms, complemented by collaborative and calming spaces with varied and playful furniture, along with kitchens, lockers, restrooms, and storage. Each classroom features full glazing towards the courtyard and access to exterior corridors running along the building. Linear wooden-covered verandas, inspired by serpentine shapes, invite students to spend time outdoors for most of the year. These verandas also prevent excessive sunlight and glare on the highly glazed facades.
The main entrance, where the two wings meet, opens onto the central agora, topped by a large circular skylight. To its left are the bleachers, which conceal the lockers and restrooms for different school users. To the right is the gymnasium and a flexible space furnished to accommodate various activities such as a library, exhibitions, or events like music, theater, or culinary gatherings.
On the north facade, along a vehicular access road, are the gym locker rooms and storage, as well as spaces for staff and other personnel.
The bleachers link the ground floor to the balcony above, overlooking the agora and gymnasium. They also lead to the art, language, and creative laboratory spaces. A second entrance on Boily Street provides access to the daycare, children's center, development room, and administration.
Wood is the dominant material in the project's tectonics. A local and renewable material, it evokes the sensory qualities of northern living. The round column grid, visible both inside and outside, recalls the raw logs used during the logging era. The wooden ceilings extend beneath the outdoor passageways and guardrails. The verticality of the columns and the windows gives rhythm to the curved facade facing the courtyard. On the street side, the building has a relatively low volume, fitting with the surrounding typology. This linear mass consists of an opaque base providing necessary privacy for spaces designed for relaxation and focus, topped with band windows. Skylights bring in occasional zenithal light, and two openings in the volume define the main entrance and the daycare entrance.
Serpentins School offers an environment where architectural considerations align with a renewed vision of education, enabling students to thrive in their learning while creating a bridge to the community.
