Northern Alberta schools upgraded to reflect Cree values

Three northern Alberta schools are being prepared for the future while addressing past cultural neglect.

Louis Aussant, an architect and principal at Saskatoon-based aodbt architecture + interior design, co-presented a session at the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada’s 2016 Festival of Architecture in Nanaimo, B.C. detailing the work of modernizing three schools in the Little Red River Cree Nation in northern Alberta.

The three schools are located in the remote communities of John D’Or Prairie, Garden River and Fox Lake, with a combined population of 6,000 people.

The sites were so remote that "you just turned off your phone because there wasn’t any signal," Aussant said. Though John D’Or Prairie and Garden River were accessible by gravel road, he said, Fox Lake could only be reached via an ice road in winter or a river barge in the summer months.

One of the first goals of the project was to ensure the schools measured up to current safety standards. Doors and windows were repaired, as were the mechanical, electrical and sprinkler systems. The schools also underwent hazardous material assessments.

"Part of the mandate of the redesign was to extend the life of each school by 20 years," Aussant said.

One of the main drivers of the project, he added, was an emphasis on cultural sensitivity to Cree values.

The existing John D’Or Prairie School is 4,000 square metres and part of the modernization process included a 1,338-square-metre addition, along with converting the existing library into a Cree culture room.

"Nothing in the school was originally sympathetic to Cree culture, and we determined to change it from a typical ‘city library’ esthetic to something more culturally appropriate," Aussant said.

Sister Gloria School, located 200 kilometres east of High Level was also upgraded with features reflecting Cree culture, with areas created in a teepee form, as well as elder areas and counselling rooms.

They were also soundproofed in order to facilitate drumming.

The school at Fox Lake, however, already had soundproof music rooms and in any case had no objections to drumming and other music permeating throughout the building.

"It’s a classroom, first and foremost, but they were very open to sound and activity bleeding out to the rest of the school," Aussant’s co-presenter Chris Woollard said.

Woollard is a partner at Edmonton-based ONPA Architects.

John D’Or recognizes Cree culture with a symbolic structure at the entrance mimicking an eagle in flight.

"It’s a ‘freeze frame’ of wing movement, with different shades of color to also indicate flight. The kids got it before the adults did," Aussant said.

The community is self-governed, he said, so the development process for project and design approvals was "like any other governmental body’s checklist. You have to go through the steps, it’s no different than any other public works project."

Construction of the three projects begins on July 4 and is scheduled for completion in 18 months.