Natoaganeg School

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The new Natoaganeg School is a kindergarten to grade 8 school that can accommodate more than 125 students. Completed almost five months ahead of schedule, the design-build contract model allowed Bird to effectively integrate with the design team and owner to streamline construction activities. During the project, Bird was committed to building a school that not only functionally exceeded all requirements, but emphasized the local culture of the Eel Ground First Nation. The school features two wings of classrooms equal in length with an iconic central light drum room, topped with a seven metre diameter geodesic skylight. The design also included the unique arrangement of the brick cladding to mirror rammed earth, a method of early building in North America that used various layers of different coloured clay soils rammed into forms with primitive cement binding it all together. The team, in partnership with the Eel Ground First Nation, developed a mentorship program that offered local First Nation residents the opportunity to work with skilled tradesmen in a field of their choice during construction. Since the successful completion of the school, Bird hired the tradesmen for another project in the area.

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