27 Dec 2024
The quality of architecture is closely linked to the quality of life. Society needs an innovative architecture that tells a story and inspires excellence. This statement, a leitmotif of the architect's work, has, since 2020, been explicitly emphasized by the Quebec government in a vision and architectural signature aimed at framing the creation of a new generation of schools.
And so, in the wake of this transformative social momentum, École secondaire du Bosquet, a project by ABCP | Menkès Shooner Dagenais LeTourneux | Bilodeau Baril Leeming Architectes, welcomed its first students in autumn 2024. Located in Drummondville's Saint-Nicéphore district, on the edge of a wooded area that played a key role in the architectural design, the new school provides an inspiring setting to positively support students on their educational path.
The primary architectural intention was to let the woodland take centre stage, to let the forest blend into the project: the new school is at one with nature and immerses itself in the essence of the place. To accentuate this privileged relationship with nature, we composed the volumetry so that it recalls the stratification of the land,” explains Jean-Pierre LeTourneux, senior associate architect and lead designer. “The materiality, for its part, combines both transparency and vertical relief, evoking the full-empty play of the wood's edge. The light and energy that nature and the forest can provide are also enhanced by abundant fenestration.”
A footpath, a trail
On entering the site, the visitor is in a forest: Biophilic Square [the signature space for this school connected to nature] and the benches constitute a public gathering space. They open up perspectives and assert the omnipresence of nature at the heart of the project. At the second level, this architectural ramble continues, to include an auditorium and a central walk-about area in front of the vast light-filled library. Each area is interconnected with nature, with the grandeur and majesty of the forest.
The many windows in all the façades and the built-in sunscreen in the bronze-coloured aluminium panels matching the woodland hues subtly evoke the dappled warm light that filters through the treetops. As for the richly planted outdoor spaces seem to reflect the adjacent woodland. From the public square in front of the school to the inner courtyard, passing through a wide stepped opening between the sports complex and the main building, everything is intertwined with, enveloped in nature. Within this environment, school and forest are as one.
Technical sheet
Project Team – Architecture
ABCP | Menkès Shooner Dagenais LeTourneux | Bilodeau Baril Leeming Architectes
Lead Designer: Jean-Pierre LeTourneux
Designers: Thibault Bayard, Matthieu Nicolas Devito et Pierre Guimont
Project Manager: François Moreau
Assistant Project Manager: Pascale Ouellet-Dompierre
Principal-in-Charge: Anik Shooner
In charge of site supervision: Jean-Sébastien Gravel
Director of Sustainable Development: Nadia Bini
Project Team – Others
Client: Centre de services scolaire des Chênes
Mechanical/Electrical Engineers: EXP | LGT
Structure/Civil: CIMA+
Construction manager: EBC
Landscape architecture: Projet Paysage
Photographer: Stéphane Brügger
Name: École secondaire du Bosquet
Location: Drummondville (Saint-Nicéphore sector), Quebec, Canada
Area: 19,319 m2
Program: 43 classrooms, 6 science labs, 8 arts facilities, a 400-seat auditorium, 5 sports facilities, including a quadruple gymnasium, and numerous collaborative spaces.
LEED® v4 Silver certification targeted
First school year: August 2024
Inauguration: November 4, 2024
Awards received:
