North Shore Credit Union Environmental Learning Centre (ELC) now completed and officially opened

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    Project update June 2012 – Minimal-impact North Vancouver Outdoor School, Vancouver, BC, Canada

    Skylights provide spatial interest to internal spaces and include automated glazed vents for stack-effect natural ventilation.

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    Project update June 2012 – Minimal-impact North Vancouver Outdoor School, Vancouver, BC, Canada

    The Environmental Learning Centre creates an experiential environment blending natural, human and building ecologies.

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    Project update June 2012 – Minimal-impact North Vancouver Outdoor School, Vancouver, BC, Canada

    The building provides a critical context for learning at the heart of a rural school campus near Vancouver, Canada.

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    Project update June 2012 – Minimal-impact North Vancouver Outdoor School, Vancouver, BC, Canada

    The classroom spaces hover above the forest floor and provide direct views of the forest canopy.

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    Project update June 2012 – Minimal-impact North Vancouver Outdoor School, Vancouver, BC, Canada

    A sequential study of skylight orientation and structural impact on quality and distribution optimizes the use of natural light.

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    Project update June 2012 – Minimal-impact North Vancouver Outdoor School, Vancouver, BC, Canada

    The carefully proportioned form is slotted between stands of mature conifers.

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    Project update June 2012 – Minimal-impact North Vancouver Outdoor School, Vancouver, BC, Canada

    Entrance to the building.

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    Project update June 2012 – Minimal-impact North Vancouver Outdoor School, Vancouver, BC, Canada

    The structure is raised above the threat of flooding from the river on its concrete pilotis.

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    Project update June 2012 – Minimal-impact North Vancouver Outdoor School, Vancouver, BC, Canada

    The mixture of columns and tree trunks merge in such a way as to float the building into a hovering canopy.

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    Project update June 2012 – Minimal-impact North Vancouver Outdoor School, Vancouver, BC, Canada

    A strong composition in its simplicity: a pencil-box tree house on stilts, among the trees.

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    Project update June 2012 – Minimal-impact North Vancouver Outdoor School, Vancouver, BC, Canada

    Beneath the building becomes a “found” program space.

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    Project update June 2012 – Minimal-impact North Vancouver Outdoor School, Vancouver, BC, Canada

    Wood cladding is the dominant material on the walls, roof and soffit.

The USD 6 million North Shore Credit Union Environmental Learning Centre (ELC) has now been completed. As phase one of a USD 20 million redevelopment project for the North Vancouver Outdoor School (NVOS) the building was officially opened on June 20, 2012. The ELC creates an experiential environment that blends natural, human and building ecologies – acting as an educational tool and demonstration facility, integral to the educational programming of the school.

Last updated: June 20, 2012 Vancouver, BC, Canada

One treehouse closer to eco-excellence

The innovative facility designed by McFarland Marceau Architects models the values of environmental stewardship while responding to the sensitive ecology of the site. The project’s “treehouse” concept elevates the structure high off the flood plain, raising students and visitors up into the forest canopy.

The new North Vancouver Outdoor School (NVOS) Environmental Learning Centre’s dependence on outside sources of energy and its impact on the environment are minimized to uphold the philosophical principles of the school which aims for an LEED Platinum rating. “Throughout the world, environmental education is now understood as a vital necessity in raising generations of citizens who not only appreciate nature but can contribute solutions to the pressing sustainability challenges of our time,” said John Lewis, North Vancouver School District superintendent at the official groundbreaking ceremony in April 2011.

Responsive to site and program

In direct response to the linearity of the valley and river, the building assumes a narrow linear form, raised above the forest floor on pilotis, whose underside inscribes the line of the 200-year-old-floodplain. The building was recipient of a Merit Award at the 2012 Canadian Architect Awards of Excellence.

Project background

Damaged by frequent, serious flooding, an environmental learning center that has fallen into disrepair over the years will be rebuilt. The Minimal-impact North Vancouver Outdoor School is completely self-reliant and CO2-neutral. Elevated on a structural platform offering spectacular views and access to nature, the building’s placement also offers protection against future flood concerns.