location
127 Bell Ave., Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
client
River Avenue Cooperative Day Nursery
consultants
S/ Kowalchuk Consulting Eng. Ltd.
M/ Faraci Eng. Ltd.
E/ MCW/AGE
contractor
SBS Projects Inc.
area
5,000 sf
cost
$1 Million
status
Completed 2008
River Avenue Co-op Day Nursery Inc. approached Prairie to design a new facility for the 30-year-old centre. Prairie entered into an extensive collective design process with the parents, staff and board members of the centre. The daycare was interested in an urban sustainable building on a small site near the existing facility. The design team created a series of design options with the client selecting a form reflecting a prairie vernacular with a circular heart / cubbie area framed as a grain bin as the core of the building with large open span activity areas off a central street leading from the main entrance to the play yard. A band of south-facing glazing is located along the commercial busy street at a high elevation for privacy and day lighting. The 4000 s.f. building was designed to LEED Gold standards for 54 toddlers and 8 after-school children. The $1.0 million building opened in September 2008.