Update 1

Strathcona Elementary School Renewal Project 

Project Definition Phase

The Colborne Architect Group led a consultative planning and design process for the Strathcona School Renewal Project.  The Consultant Team examined seismic safety, building life cycle assessment, heritage and sustainability considerations, site work and improvements, project phasing and financial costing.  The development of the design concepts was be guided by the VBE School Design Principles and Strathcona’s Renewal Project Planning Principles.  The outcome of this process led to one preferred renewal school concept plan.For detailed information about the PDR planning process see The Strathcona Elementary School Renewal Project Page.

Board Meeting - October 17, 2011

Planning and Facilities Committee II of the Vancouver Board of Education  forwarded a recommendation to proceed with the  Renewal Concept Option (upgraded and retain the 3 core school buildings) to the October 17 meeting of the  Vancouver Board of Education. The Board endorsed this recommendation, and staff are now finalizing the Strathcona Project Definition Report submission and request for a Project Agreement (funding) with the Ministry of Education.

Once we have project agreement approval, we will be approaching the school staff for design input in the next design development stage.

Committee II Meeting - October 4, 2011

The Project Definition Report for Strathcona Elementary School was presented to the VBE trustees at Committee II on Tuesday, October 4, 2011. Click the following link to see the Meeting Minutes.

Click on the following link to see the Committee Report: Strathcona Project Definition Report

Open House - June 2011

We would like to thank everyone who took the time to come to the Open House. VSB Planning & Facilities Staff, the City of Vancouver and the project architect team were in attendance to provide updated design concepts and to receive community feedback.Click on the following link to see the Open House Feedback Summary.

Display Boards

• Welcome and Introduction
• Planning Context
• Existing Site Issues
• Exsiting Inventory and Analysis
• Planning Principles
• Heritage Buildings
• Project Statistics
• Project Definition Report (PDR) Timeline
• Proposed Design Concept Plan - First Floor, Second Floor, Third Floor
• Structural Concept Plan - Foundation, Second Floor, Sections
• Propsed Landscaping Plan
• Proposed Design Concept Artist Renderings Before/After Images (1), (2)
• Preliminary Phasing Plan

Update 2

December 2010

Brook and Associates have prepared the following report Lord Strathcona Elementary NCLD Space Program Report that outlines proposed project planning principles, proposed core school program areas and a construction phasing and renovation strategy for the school provides recommendations. The report also summarizes the Open House feedback and outlines the next steps of the planning process.

• Lord Strathcona Elementary NCLD Space Program Report: Part 1,  Part 2,  Part 3

Resulting from the NLC process, Blocks “A”, “B” and “C” were designated as core school space, along with the continued use of the gym in the community centre Block” E”. There is a gross area of approximately 6,900 sq m. for school use and future NLC opportunities. Block “D” and a portion of the community centre Block “E” will act as swing space during the renovation of the school. At the conclusion of the school renovation, the future use of Block “D” and the school portion of Block “E” will be determined under a separate process. 

Capital Project Bylaw - December 6, 2010

On December 6, 2010, the Board approved the capital project bylaws for project planning and design related to Strathcona, Queen Mary and Gordon NLC renewal projects. Click here to see the staff memo.

Update 3

Community Display - December 2-3, 2009

A community display was set up in lobby area of the Strathcona Community Centre for the public to learn about ideas for the future renewal of Stratchona Elementary School. Project team members were on site on December 2nd and 3rd from 3:00 pm to 6:00 pm to answer questions.

Display Boards

• Welcome
• NCLD Program Overview, NCLD Vision and Guiding Principles
• Participants, Process and Timeline
• Learning & School Design
• Examples of Learning Spaces, Art & Media Spaces,  Social Spaces, Activity Spaces, Sustainability, Area Relationships
• School and Community Context
• Project Planning Principles
• Heritage Context
• Existing Building Area Analysis, Renewed School Area Analysis
• NCLD Partnership Opportunities
• Renovation and Phasing 

Update 4

Lord Strathcona Visioning Session - April 20, 2009

In the Spring of 2009, VSB brought together the school community and local and provincial agencies to develop a future Vision for Strathcona. Through this session, participants were given an opportunity to discuss potential synergies between the potential NCLD agencies and school to see how they might work together in a renewed school. The Vision is a starting point for planning for a renewed school.

• Vision Report (English)
• 2 Page Vision Summary (Chinese)
• 2 Page Vision Summary (Vietnamese) 

Neighbourhood Learning Centres (Previously named Neighbourhood Centre of Learning and Development)

The Neighbourhood Learning Centres (NLC) Project is part of the Provincial Seismic Mitigation Program which has the objective to optimize the use of upgraded school facilities by bringing together education and community services in a single neighbourhood hub. An enhanced NLC school can be used for services such as early learning or child-care programs, office or meeting rooms for non-profit organizations, health clinics, sports programs, family resource or seniors’ centres, industry training, or branch libraries. The Ministry will provide additional space as part of the capital project to accommodate NLC services. NLC agency partners are expected to provide their own operational funds and are encouraged to contribute capital funding where possible to provide enhanced community facilities.Queen Mary Elementary, General Gordon Elementary and Lord Strathcona Elementary are participating in the project. The renewed schools will include services on site that will benefit students and the community. For more information see Ministry of Education website for additional background information.