Exterior daytime view of multi storey Sk'elep School of Excellence main entrance, showing innovative timber design which effectively forms the wood version of a concrete waffle slab

Sk’elep School of Excellence

Location: Kamloops, B.C.
Completion: 2009
Photo credit: Derek Lepper

Size
1,719 square metres

Structural Engineer
Equilibrium Consulting Inc.

Structural systems
Hybrid / Other
Low rise
Post + beam

Project materials
Glue-laminated timber (Glulam)
Siding

Species
Western red cedar
Western hemlock
Sub-alpine fir

One of the largest Indigenous elementary schools in the province

The Sk’elep School of Excellence offers children a bright and unique timber structure in which to learn tradition with the tactics of modern education

As one of the largest Indigenous elementary schools in the province, the Sk’elep School of Excellence plays a vital role in teaching and preserving the culture and language of the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc. It offers elementary grades (full–time kindergarten to Grade 7) with a vision of combining “tradition with the tactics of modern education to provide students with an encompassing future.” The school plays a vital role not only in elementary education but as a hub for community and capacity building.

Innovative hybrid timber design

The school’s geometric design rises boldly from the benchlands above the North Thompson River. Its exterior palette of corrugated metal cladding, stucco, western red cedar and cultured stone blends fittingly with the dry, desert-like terrain. The structure features innovative timber two-way lattice made of sawn hem-fir timber elements. The grids effectively form the wood version of a concrete waffle slab. The gymnasium’s roof trusses consist of an elegant hybrid between glulam beams and a king-post truss. To achieve this, a pair of glulam beams, symmetrical to the centre line, connect into a king-post truss with double steel-rod bottom chords. This unique timber structure is one of the first of its kind in Canada.

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