More Information

This large junior high school is a classic example of the education philosophy of the period (1970) that pulls together a unified and thoughtful design with great integrity, on a truly magnificent site.

Althought not in any way unmannerly on the exterior, emphasis was given more to the interior, in particular to the idea that children learned at different rates so overlap and interaction were positive tools that could best be fostered in the open-air classroom; consequently, many of the academic rooms in Acadia were planned for interactive learning with the focus within, the 'internal light' of the growing mind.

As in other schools from the era, when most of these classrooms were ultimately partitioned, it wreaked havoc with the mechanical systems which were set up for much different air flow; the complete lack of windows held no solutions for natural light or ventilation.

Design Characteristics

• Nestled in natural woods and adjacent to large playing fields shared with Fort Richmond Collegiate and Dalhousie Elementary, the school seems to rise from the very stone in which it is covered in a prairie style that emphasizes the horizontal and the organic, with an irregular footprint and brilliant use of angle, line and shadow.