Taking Root : A New Technolab for the AGBU School, Montreal

Building on the success of the TUMO Center for Creative Technologies (Yerevan, Armenia), AGBU is joining an international network of innovative educational facilities in Paris, Berlin, Moscow, Beirut, Tirana, and soon in Tokyo, Kiev, and Los Angeles. This network aims to develop digital communication and design skills in teenagers around the world by providing them with the right environment and necessary equipment. As part of the actions and educational goals, teachers and students can form relationships that are then strengthened through financial and intellectual support. AGBU is the network's first Canadian location and is meant for Quebec high school students. The center offers after-school educational programs that exceed the requirements of the traditional curriculum and additional adult-level programs delivered by technology experts. One of its key challenges is to balance its global presence while maintaining ties to its local community. A potential bridge to this gap is the deployment of a small-scale infrastructure to maintain the link with its surroundings. The project includes the rehabilitation of two existing buildings–a school and a community center–and the construction of a new one that will house a technology laboratory and several classrooms, all within a residential neighborhood. Responding to the size limitations of the site, the new one links the two others underground so as to avoid obstructing any of their exterior openings. The complex is then re-organized around a recessed courtyard, which introduces natural lighting into all the spaces. A tree at the center is a natural meeting spot and transforms the area around it into an informal public space. One of the objectives of the mandate was to maximize the use of the existing spaces and facilities while developing a long-term vision for the campus that prioritizes its overall sustainability. Currently empty on weekends, the new and dynamic central space, created by the strategic reorganization of the site and modular layouts, will now be open and available for use outside of school hours. A future phase of the high school will include a new extension in response to the opening of a Metropolitan Express Network (REM) station, which will facilitate accessing the site and make it a transit point for public and active transportation, including cycling and pedestrian routes.