Although the flood water only damaged the lower portion of the interior construction, N53 advised that a wholesale demolition of the interior would provide the owner with the best opportunity to abate hazardous materials and upgrade physical infrastructure in the affected area of the school, which in turn would allow the owner to align the renovation area with the current building code.

While the broad strokes of the existing plan remained the same due to the locations of washrooms and skylights, under-utilized lab spaces and small classrooms were consolidated and reorganized to provide better quality and more flexible classrooms. Windows were added to classrooms throughout the wing in response to the lack of their natural light in the existing building.

N53 ensured that its design would respect the existing architectural character of the school building; the renovated wing now presents as a refreshed version of the original design despite being almost entirely new interior construction. New masonry veneer was applied throughout the corridors to match the school’s existing exposed brick and provide a durable wall finish in high-traffic areas.

A persistent challenge throughout the project was the lack of record drawings from the building’s original construction, additions, and renovations over the last 60 years. Through extensive field work as demolition progressed, N53 assessed the existing conditions and incorporated them into plans for the new construction. This project demonstrates N53 Architecture’s ability to assess, design, and document construction within existing buildings while maintaining a sensitivity to the broader architectural character.