Ferguson Simek Clark Ferguson Simek Clark Architects and Engi- neers have designed much of the fabric of the Canadian north since the mid-1970s and maintain architectural and engineering offices across the northern Territories. A recent FSC project designed by Rod Kirkwood demands notice for its use of daylight to create and define architecture. Sir John Franklin High School Addi- tion & Renovation (2001),Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. 62º north. Kirkwood takes a tanker of a school building constructed in phases from 1957-1975 and lifts planes, cuts slices and strategically inserts daylight into gathering and circulation areas. With 750 students, Sir John is also the residence of the Northern Arts and Cultural Centre (NACC), the main venue for a thriving theatre community. The town square acts as a gathering area for students and as the lobby for NACC during theatre events.The sloped facets of the underside of its ceiling were conceptualized as a clock that indicates time of day by reflecting low northern winter light down into the facility while keeping the heat of direct summer sun out. Daylight is used as a point of orientation in a facility that originally consisted of a maze of circulation. Spatial importance is also identi- fied with daylight.You are naturally drawn to the library, town square and study area emphasised by light. Small, secluded areas of solace are also articulated with day light. Views expand out to Great Slave Lake and to trees and rock of the site. Interior glazing is used throughout, transferring natural light into interior spaces and providing views of activities in adjacent spaces. Northern design philosophy has evolved where the exterior elements of a site offer more than cold temperatures to be avoided; where daylight and connection to the immedi- ate surround add value to the architecture and definition of space.
circulation spaces are flooded with daylight
On Site review 11
42
Spring 2004
Architecture of the Circumpolar Region
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