As part of our feature celebrating the grand opening of the new St. Anthony’s School The Drumheller Mail had a chance to speak with Doug Gage, co-founder and partner of Gibbs-Gage Architecture.
Gibbs-Gage Architecture was contacted in 2007 to design the new St. Anthony’s School. The firm had also designed the renovations to the Drumheller Composite High School.
How did Gibbs Gage become involved with the construction of the new school?
We were involved with the two school boards in Drumheller and the Town to do a building assessment study looking at a comprehensive site for the high school, St. Anthony’s School, and a rec centre. It was determined there wasn’t a suitable site for all three.
Later, Christ the Redeemer came up with the site and we were quite excited with the backdrop of the escarpment and the stratification of the land.
Did that influence the design of the school?
We wanted to let people know three things, this is a school, it’s a catholic school, and it’s part of the community and surroundings.
There was a unique opportunity with the stratification to make the school the foreground piece. That’s why you see the stratification of the brick in the school.
Generally you hid the gymnasium around the back, but with the escarpment, we opened most of the light up to that side. Plus, we used the gym as a feature element, front and center, because gyms often become the playing surface for the town. We also used it to display the cross with the large window.
We also tried to open the student areas up to the back, because of that view to the escarpment.
What were some things you tried to incorporate into the school’s design?
Because it is the K-12 school it has unique issues. What we tried to do was create separate spaces for the elementary and high school students. We wanted to protect the safety of the kids and respect the space needed by the high school students.
We also designed the school to a LEED [Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design] Silver designation.
Were there any challenges when designing and building the site?
In most of Drumheller there is the issue of the mines. Our original plans had the building in another area, so we moved the school out of the mining area.
How does it feel to be done?
We’re proud of it. It was an honour and a unique opportunity to design a purpose building in Drumheller.
