The TCDSB retained Robertson Simmons Architects (RSai) to complete a feasibility study and ultimately a new school to replace the original St. Nicholas Catholic School building (1965), which was no longer meeting the needs of its community.
RSai’s design for a three-storey school addresses the tight urban site and provides a community-centered building. In anticipation of an active after-hours use of the gymnasium and special purpose room, RSai located the gym at the front of the school with glazing to the floor along the street side of the room, increasing the prominence and accessibility of the facility for organizations and athletic activities within the community.
The re-designed site provides additional parking, drop-off lanes, and sufficient hard surface student play areas to ensure the safe circulation of pedestrian and vehicular traffic on site. The many mature trees on the school property were protected by the creation of Urban Forestry Zones.
