Samuel Brighouse Elementary School

Location: Richmond, B.C.

Architect: Perkins&Will

Completion: 2011

Photo credit: Andrew Latreille

Size
4,777 square metres

Owner
School District No. 38
B.C. Ministry of Education and Child Care

Structural Engineer
Fast + Epp

Wood Supplier
StructureCraft

Roof Fabrication and Installation
StructureCraft

Structural systems
Hybrid / Other
Mass timber
Post + beam

Project materials
Glue-laminated timber (Glulam)
Millwork
Nail-laminated timber (NLT)
Panelling

Species
Douglas-fir
SPF

Environmental education design

Being built of locally sourced timber including wood salvaged from British Columbia’s mountain pine beetle outbreak and incorporating its own community garden—Samuel Brighouse Elementary School is a design of environmental education and stewardship.

Abundant use of wood includes a post-and-beam structure, wall framing, decking, millwork and interior panels.
An undulating nail-laminated timber (NLT) wood roof demonstrates the beauty and structural capacity of dimension lumber.
Makes efficient use of wood affected by the mountain pine beetle outbreak.

Making nature elementary

Samuel Brighouse Elementary makes wood and natural materials central to its design. The school provides educators, support staff and more than five hundred students from kindergarten to grade seven with modern classrooms, offices, special education facilities, computer lab, library and gymnasium. A two-storey atrium offers students a dramatic and inviting entry to the school, built primarily of locally sourced wood and mass timber. Its double height glazing floods the common space in warm, natural light while giving views to the outside greenery. It also contains an adult literacy centre that serves the wider community.

Timber takes top marks

The facility’s abundant use of wood includes a post-and-beam structure, wall framing, roof decking, millwork as interior doors and protective wall panels. An undulating NLT roof, made with 2 X 4s and steel V-shaped king-posts, demonstrates the beauty and structural capacity of dimension lumber. Its prefabricated panels—much of the wood coming from forests affected by the mountain pine beetle—were built off-site, expediting construction and cutting the installation time by half. The roof offers the added benefit of passive ventilation, through windows at the peaks of each wave—improving comfort, energy efficiency and air quality.

“We chose wood as the primary expressive material for this project, transforming it into an evocative architectural gesture that demonstrates the beauty and capacity of dimensional wood.”
ROBERT DREW, PROJECT ARCHITECT, PERKINS&WILL

Take a virtual tour of Samuel Brighouse Elementary School

Photo credit: Nic Lehoux

Case study: Wood in education

This case study and video review educational facilities across British Columbia, looking at their design, function and use of wood.

Watch the video / Read the case study