École secondaire Gabriel-Dumont

Cluster classrooms, LEED® certification, specialty learning, and designed for safety. There are just a few of the new trends in Ontario school design that are successfully incorporated into École secondaire Gabriel-Dumont in London. Though currently serving over 300 students, the design accommodates a future eight-classroom addition to allow for an additional 200 students as needed. Thus, common program areas were designed to consider this future growth.

This new school also incorporates the cluster classroom concept, which Martin Simmons Sweers is very familiar with, having pioneered the concept with several Ontario schools a few years ago. The cluster classroom concept involves three or four classrooms all opening onto a common area. This flexible space can be used by teachers for anything from a computer lab to break-out space for group work or individualized learning.

The school is also LEED® Gold certified, achieving 55% designed energy efficiency savings by utilizing an in-floor heating, which is not only efficient, but also provides superior comfort and health level in the teaching spaces. The school also features a variable refrigerant flow split system with an air source heat pump dedicated to the main 100% outdoor air heat recovery ventilation unit: the first school in Canada to feature this innovative system.