L’école de l’étincelle

Located in the heart of Parc Joachim in the Chicoutimi district of Saguenay, the École de l'Étincelle is an example of architecture firmly rooted in its context. The architectural approach deconstructs the conventional school to transform it into a friendly, accessible and child-friendly scale. The primary mission: to create a school that feels like home.
Fragmented into small houses that refer to Quebec vernacular architecture, the school reflects the typical Saguenay way of life: a culture directly linked to the natural environment. To pay tribute to this, the architects relied heavily on local resources. The school is built entirely of wood, both in its construction system and its interior layout.
Three distinct sections to illustrate distinct functions
Inside, three distinctly separate sections delineate the school's different functions. The section facing the street includes the administration offices on the ground floor and the kindergarten classrooms on the garden level. This layout ensures children's safety by connecting them to the courtyard.
The central section transforms the traditional library into a community learning hub. This wing was designed to be open outside school hours, making the building accessible to the community. In the middle, bleachers serve as a space for gathering and collaboration. They act as a landmark for the children, providing visual links to all the common spaces. Next to the learning hub is the Creative Lab: a multi-purpose space equipped with the latest creations and technological trends. Its direct link to the Learning Hub's library means that children can feed their research with resources at their fingertips. The whole opens onto the courtyard, creating a distinction between the liveliness of playtime and the calm necessary for learning. This series of collective spaces is completed by the Culinary Lab, which is visually linked to the Creative Lab as well as to the treetops of the park at the rear of the building. Harvests from the garden will be brought in the fully equipped kitchen to be cooked and shared with other students and the community. The Culinary Lab supports the vision of Lab-École and the Centre de services scolaires des Rives-du-Saguenay, which is to integrate food into the school's DNA, to create a place conducive to food experiences, a guarantee of well-being, engaged learning and educational success.
The last section of the school is dedicated to classrooms. Three small houses with sloping roofs create small schools within the building, each offering a warm atmosphere. Each school cycle has its own learning community. Their orientation in the landscape ensures that all classrooms benefit from northern light. Collaborative spaces in the center of each classroom mimic public squares to encourage mutual support. This teaches students to work as a team, with the aim of diversifying traditional learning models.
Interstices bathed in sunlight link each house to the others. These inhabited circulations become new places of socialization, inviting curiosity and encouraging pupils to develop their autonomy by browsing the library spread throughout the school.
Le Chalet
A distinctive feature of the teaching program, the Chalet is a space designed to accommodate young people with special needs and encourage their social and emotional development. Like a home, it features a small living room, a kitchen with an island, and a dining room. It's a place for great conversation, building trust, working on social skills and nurturing growth.
A microclimate for an active life
The landscaping extends the learning and discovery space outside the walls. Designed with Saguenay's northern climate in mind, the school's U-shaped layout provides a secure inner courtyard, ideal for recreational and educational activities. There's a fitness trail to encourage physical activity, a playground to enjoy the outdoors even in inclement weather, an outdoor classroom, a vegetable garden, and individual and group play areas. The format is designed to create a microclimate, protecting the space from prevailing winds and extreme weather variations.
A sustainable school
Passive design features reinforce the school's biophilic approach: making the most of solar radiation, allowing windows to be opened in every room, etc. These principles consolidate the idea that the occupant can live in and participate in bringing the school to life. The project focuses on spaces that meet the specific needs of students, while allowing the community to occupy them outside school hours. Today, making public buildings open to multiple functions and clienteles is synonymous with an integrated, sustainable approach.
Architecture has the power to bring people together and shape the imagination for years to come. With innovation and meticulous attention to detail, the École de l'Étincelle is an outstanding example of the future of institutional architecture in Quebec.