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North Spirit Lake School

North Spirit Lake First Nation is a remote, fly-in and winter road accessible community, 170 kilometers north of Red Lake, Ontario. Inspiration for the new K4-9 school design was taken from a rocky outcrop feature of the site and local cliff-dweller spirit mythology. The school exterior reflects this rugged cliff-like imagery, and is carried through to the central interior public space and media centre, which are reminiscent of a cliff-within-a-cliff, illuminated from above by clerestory lighting.

The school has a gross floor area of 1 545 m²and contains one kindergarten classroom, four standard classrooms, a gymnasium and a media centre (computer facilities and library/resource centre). Innovative features include full-height tackable walls running the full length of the school hallways forming an easel to display students’ artwork.

Construction systems include a glulam structure (a structural timber product), fir ceiling decking, acrylic stucco, western red cedar cladding, and a prefinished metal roof.