When attendance at the Bishop Scalabrini Catholic Elementary School fell from 475 to 250 students – a level that jeopardized its viability – the school contemplated closing its doors. The Board, school staff and parent council expressed concern for the continuance of the school, and explored various options for its revitalization. One suggestion was to add a daycare facility to a portion of the building. Upper Canada Child Care successfully responded to a proposal call and a plan was set into motion that would breathe new life into the entire facility. The daycare site would fill 6,200.00 sf of the existing shop and family studies addition, which was a previous addition to the existing school.

The shop wing was set 4’-0” below the level of the remainder of the existing school that allowed it to have grade access to the adjacent sidewalk and parking lot area. This existing wing also backed onto a cross corridor that offered direct access to the gym for indoor play on bad weather days and to accommodate after school programmes for the day care. With grade access, direct access to the gymnasium and a natural separation from the school this was an ideal setting to develop for a new day care.

The final design represented a collective effort on behalf of our firm and the client. Through a collective process of review and redesign, the client’s office staff assisted our office in all aspects of both the requirements and the feel that they deemed appropriate for the new centre. The final layout was kept simple and introduced two new elements to the existing building, namely a central lobby/reception area and a cross corridor. The central lobby/reception is the point of entry to the building. It is highlighted by a vaulted ceiling and sitting area and is set in the view of the supervisor’s office. The cross corridor spans the distance between the two outer classrooms and acts as the spine to organize the remaining elements of the centre. The corridor is flanked on one side by the two new central classrooms, with the other side collecting the staff lounge, laundry, washroom, supervisor’s office, kitchen and washroom.

The new classrooms were designed with interior windows to the corridor and the central lobby that increased the openness of the centre. Consideration was given to provide sinks at a lower level to service the children. The cabinets in the washroom were modified to be age appropriate and included the use of a seamless countertop in the toddler room for diaper change. Numerous other strategies were implemented to increase access for the children and in so doing assisting the staff in their work.