Analyzing parking lots within the city core, helped to designate void space in Sudbury. Choosing an uninhabited site will help to increase the density of the city core and promote new growth. The railroad lines running through the city are acting as a barrier from one neighbourhood to another. Of four sites, the southern most was chosen due to its proximity to the rail lines and underground paths intersecting the site. Aiding in the introduction of new retail space is an existing row of commercial business opposite to the school. This forms a new pedestrian highlight within the city. The site is northwest of the arena, east of a residential area and neighbouring north of the main train station. The building acts as an intervention between the lands surrounding the train tracks and the inhabited land.
The initial ideas for the design were derived from the mining history of this region of Ontario. The city itself has low buildings and the climate can be very harsh in the winter. Building into the ground and using the thermal mass of the earth is therefore very efficient. The influence of railcars is another obvious direction in the design. Segmenting the building forms gaps in the façade offering light into the spaces below ground. The site receives a large amount of natural light, which is capitalized by the integration of atriums within the building. The atriums allow air to flow throughout the workspaces, keeping the interior air temperature evenly distributed and circulating.
The main entrance is off of a courtyard, below street level. The courtyard is formed by stairs leading from the street, which can also be utilized as seating space for a performance or class. It connects with an existing pedestrian pathway, tunneling under the train tracks and with the atrium space of the northern part of the building. The Brady Street underpass and the exhibition space is separated by a glass wall, offering views into the building from the passing traffic. This intersection between common existing circulation paths and the school helps to integrate the building into the city. Public retail is located along Elgin Street and are boxed shaped spaces penetrating into the building and overlooking the atrium.
A prism like structure housing an auditorium is located in the central part of the school. This creates a new venue within the city for lectures and performances. Above the auditorium is the computer lab connecting the faculty area to the student lounge and studios. The library located at the top of the prism is at the heart of the school. The library stacks are on the top two stories with view to the rest of the city. The studio and workshop spaces are located at the southern end of the school. Peer to peer interaction is very important in an architecture school and with a central atrium, a dynamic connection can be made from one studio to another by way of balconies and open space. The bottom level of the atrium can be used as a classroom or meeting space.
With steel framing and a wooden clad facade, the school becomes warm and open to the surrounding environment. Much of the core of Sudbury is concrete and steel construction, and the introduction of wood, like the existing market, is an inspired contrast. Deriving this material and the design ideas from the region, celebrates the history and culture of Sudbury.
(Competitor's text)
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