Located in the heart of the Summerside Community in London, Summerside Public School and Children’s Centre is a two-storey public school situated along the curving boulevard in the heart of the neighbourhood. The school consists of 18 classrooms, 4 full-day kindergartens, and an attached one-storey childcare centre. The building is set back to provide a drop-off laneway, buffered with landscaping, which addresses the significant flow of neighbourhood traffic.
Summerside is arranged programmatically with two separate entrances serving the public school and childcare centre. The double-height exterior porch functions as the main public entry to the building; students enter the two-storey daylit lobby which serves as the focal point and informal gathering space for the school. Beyond the lobby, the school is organized into administrative, learning, and ancillary spaces. The childcare centre, comprised of infant, toddler, and preschool areas, is marked by a change in building scale. The childcare spaces encourage explorative and imaginative play which translates outside with the design of natural wood playgrounds.
The learning commons, designed as a flexible learning space, supports the needs of a diverse and growing student population encouraging new forms of collaboration and interaction. The fully-glazed façade is interspersed with sunshade fins that allow for the controlled infusion of light into the space.
This project was recognized with the LSTAR Don Smith Commercial Building Awards for Institutional Building Achievement (2023) and City of London Urban Design Honourable Mention Award (2023).
