Prairie Sky K-9 School
Prairie Sky School is a brand new two-storey K-9 school located in Calgary, Alberta. This modern K-9 educational facility spans 7,592m² and accommodates up to 900 students. The school offers a multitude of innovative learning spaces, including specialized classrooms, open-concept areas, and two gymnasiums. The hub of the school is a bustling central learning commons just off the school’s main entry alongside the drama room and band room.
Our commitment to sustainable construction practices was integral to this project. We successfully diverted over 75% of waste away from landfills during the construction process. Furthermore, the school was designed and built with LEED® Silver certification in mind, meeting rigorous standards for sustainable site development, energy efficiency, materials selection, indoor environmental quality, water conservation, and transportation requirements, aligning with the high-performing benchmarks set by LEED® sustainability builds.
Numerous shared spaces have been designed to enhance the educational experience for students. Flexible labs, breakout rooms and collaboration areas foster a dynamic learning environment. Additionally, the STEM wing of the school has dedicated spaces to subjects such as science, construction, art, computer labs, culinary arts, fashion design and maker spaces.
Some unique attributes of this project include wayfinding on floors and maps on stairwells, skyfolding doors, and molok bins for cleaner and safer waste management. We also installed 42 fan coil closets throughout the school instead of having them in the ceiling space to make for quieter classrooms and to provide easier access to the fans for maintenance. A large 3-panel aluminum door in the gym is also a key unique feature that allows quicker access to the gym for school assemblies.
Alexander K-12 School
Alexander School Kipohtakaw Education Centre includes a 1,600m2 renovation and 957m2 addition to the existing facility. The school’s new design provides a safe, enabling and nurturing environment for 379 students and 61 teachers/staff, regardless of individual challenges, to deliver quality education opportunities for all members of the school and the larger community.
JEN COL is A True Indigenous Construction Partner… learn more.
Quesnel Junior School
The Quesnel Junior School is a two-storey, 6,331m² modern junior high school located in Quesnel, British Columbia. The school has the presence of wood throughout the interior and exterior of the school, creating a warm and inviting environment. The aluminum cladding establishes a modern yet familiar look.
The learning environment includes modern classrooms, learning studios, science labs, a learning stair, a large gym with a 20-foot video screen, soccer and baseball fields, and a smudge room. Overhead garage doors and operable walls between the studios enhance collaborative learning opportunities.
The school includes a broad range of creative elective spaces for the students to learn hands-on skills, including spaces like a woodshop, stagecraft studio, drama theatre, two concrete amphitheatres, robotics lab, home economics, and music room.
The school is designed with sustainability in mind, with insulated 14-inch walls to provide energy efficiency. The school also features a 100kW PV solar panel array, alongside various heat pumps and energy-efficient equipment to minimize energy consumption.
The facility also incorporates a new neighbourhood learning centre that will provide child care and other local community programming.
Outside, the school’s landscaping incorporates local plants from the Quesnel region, creating a beautiful and thoughtful outdoor learning space.
Fort McMurray 468 Community Building
Amidst the breathtaking surroundings of Gregoire Lake, we are currently constructing the build of the Fort McMurray 468 First Nation’s new Community Building. This dynamic project is currently taking shape and is set to become the heart and soul of the Fort McMurray 486 First Nation community.
Rather than merely serving as a gathering place, the Community Building is destined to be a vibrant hub where community members connect, learn, celebrate, and heal. This multifaceted facility is designed to fulfill a wide range of roles, from hosting cultural events and educational programs to nurturing leadership and empowerment.
Within its walls, an array of amenities awaits, including a gymnasium, an artisan shop cafe, an indoor playground, a fitness center, change rooms, an elders’ room, a community gathering space, a spacious balcony with breathtaking views, board rooms, and office spaces.
Anticipated to open its doors in early spring 2025, the Fort McMurray Community Centre is poised to be the vibrant epicenter of the local community, fostering connections and enriching lives in numerous ways.
Sullivan Stone Condominiums
The Sullivan Stone ski hill condominium underwent a full envelope reconstruction to address exterior molding, water damage, and rotting issues. JEN COL completed a comprehensive building envelope replacement project for all four condo buildings, ensuring long-lasting integrity.
Despite all 21 condos being fully occupied during the entire project, we prioritized safety and maintained effective communication with residents and condo board members throughout. To minimize disruption, we implemented various measures, including reducing the time balconies were inaccessible, providing bi-weekly updates for the Strata to share with residents, and exclusively working during regular working hours. These efforts paid off, as we received no complaints from residents or the condo board throughout the entire reconstruction process.
The newly reconstructed exteriors of all four ski-in condominiums were expertly constructed to withstand the test of time. Our commitment to safety, quality, and efficiency ensures that Sullivan Stone condominiums will continue to be a premier choice for residents seeking ski-in access at the Kimberley Alpine Resort.
Pilot Sound Fire Station No. 30
JEN COL Construction was contracted to build Edmonton’s 30th fire station, the new Pilot Sound Fire Station located at 15850 – 50 Street which is part of the Pilot Sound residential community encompassing seven neighborhoods in the city’s northeast corner. With a total building area of 1,226m², the fire station contains three drive-through apparatus bays, dispatch, dorm rooms, a kitchen, a lounge, an exercise room, offices, change rooms, washrooms and service, utility and storage spaces. One of the biggest features is an external duty gear storage room which is completely isolated from the main living area – great from a firefighter health and safety perspective.
This fire station is a wood frame construction, one of the first for the City of Edmonton, with exposed glulam beams and timber decking throughout the facility, including the apparatus bay and the dormitory, kitchen and exercise areas. The project also included site work, utility connections, landscaping, fencing, curb crossing and roadway improvements.
The Pilot Sound Fire Station project, which achieved LEED® Silver Certification, incorporates a variety of important sustainability strategies including water conservation, bioswales, high-albedo site paving materials, building orientation, natural lighting, advanced ventilation and drought-tolerant planting. Canada Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design New Construction (LEED-NC) Silver-rating-certified buildings reduce waste, conserve energy, decrease water consumption and drive innovation through better air ventilation, more natural daylight and several other innovative techniques.
Performing Arts Theatre of Hinton
Located about 285 kilometers west of Edmonton, the Town of Hinton enjoys a rich quality of life bolstered by an ardent arts and culture scene. In fact, Hinton is home to nearly 25 cultural organizations – the majority of which are in the performing arts.
In 2015, Hinton Town Council had the vision to create a multi-use facility as a home for theatre production, cinema, lectures and exhibits. This new venue would replace the Roxy Theatre & Performing Arts Centre – devastated by fire in 2009 – which played host to thousands of musical and theatrical performances, festivals and movies since the early 1950s.
With a touch of irony, the new Performing Arts Theatre of Hinton (PATH) along Switzer Drive was converted from an older Fire Hall/RCMP building. The two-phase project included the construction of a new Visual Arts/Pottery Studio – a 115 m2 community-use building offering space for local artists to hone their craft and share their work – and secondly, a 1,369 m2 addition and renovation of the existing Fire Hall into a new 170-seat performing arts theatre and cinema.
The fire truck apparatus bays were converted into the theatre with a specialty wood stage and retractable seating to increase the number of potential uses for the space. The primary addition to the building houses the lobby, washrooms and a second-floor sound and data mezzanine. This addition was an exposed wood glulam structure with large windows and a fully functioning bar and concession. A second wood glulam addition to the facility houses the theatre’s back of house space and features a large overhead door allowing productions to easily move stage equipment in and out of the facility. The entire project was outfitted with upgraded finishes and fixtures to provide an upscale atmosphere as soon as patrons walk in the door. To help set the mood for the various events hosted at the PATH, recessed LED fixtures were added in the walls throughout the lobby and theater which can be programmed to any colour and brightness.
The PATH project was nominated for the 2019 Prairie Wood Design Awards in the Institutional Category and is now identified as a destination for performing arts and theatre.
Theresa C. Wildcat Early Learning Centre
The new Theresa C. Wildcat Early Learning Centre is a 2,944m2 Kindergarten building welcomes the community’s children during the most important learning years of their lives to help create a strong foundation for learning today and for success later in life. The school honours First Nation culture and traditions and will serve the community for many years to come. JEN COL partnered with the community, the Maskwacîs Education Schools Commission and the Maskwacîs Employment Centre on recruitment campaigns to identify potential candidates and to make candidates aware of job opportunities throughout the construction of the project.
JEN COL is A True Indigenous Construction Partner… learn more.
St. Kateri Tekakwitha Academy
St. Kateri Tekakwitha Academy is a new pre-K to Grade 5 school constructed on a greenfield site in the new Westwinds subdivision in the Town of Morinville. It is the first school the Greater St. Albert Catholic School District has built in the Town since Morinville Community High School opened in 1994. The Academy addresses current and future growth at the elementary level and includes a sports academy focusing on gymnastics, cheer, dance and hockey, with a strong emphasis on academics.
This 3,158m² facility has been designed and constructed to meet LEED® Silver with capacity for 350 students. A unique—and sustainable—feature of the Academy are the solar panels on the exterior and interior of the building where students can use mobile solar panels and software as part of lessons on tracking energy production and use.
The school’s main hall gathering space for students and staff has a wood-patterned floor and ceiling to resemble an Indigenous longhouse, and the front office is brown to reflect St. Kateri’s artisan skills as a basket weaver. The school’s grades are divided into three color-coded pods and classrooms in each pod have garage-door walls that spill into common areas when open.
Corpus Christi Catholic School
In 2014, Edmonton Catholic Schools announced a new kindergarten to Grade 9 school would be built in southeast Edmonton to serve the Walker neighbourhood (located in the Ellerslie and Summerside area). This school has a planned occupancy of 750 students with room to add up to ten modular units in addition to the core facility.
The new building has 31 classrooms including science labs and Career and Technology Studies (CTS) workrooms, two gymnasiums, a servery kitchen and a two-storey learning commons to unify the three school divisions in an interactive, multipurpose program area. The school’s two-storey design helps maximize the efficiency of the building, maximize outdoor activity space and allow appropriate separation of grade structure based on division.
High-quality finishes around the school include cork floor tile in the music rooms, wood grain metal ceiling clouds throughout the building, full-height glazing walls in both gymnasiums for spectator viewing from both the main and the second floor, as well as polished concrete throughout the school for added durability and lower maintenance costs.
Corpus Christi Catholic School successfully achieved LEED® Silver Certification. The use of natural lighting throughout the building, a well-designed heating and cooling system and low flow fixtures were all contributing factors. Canada Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design New Construction (LEED-NC) Silver-rating-certified buildings reduce waste, conserve energy, decrease water consumption and drive innovation through better air ventilation, more natural daylight and several other innovative techniques.