Project summary

The Roy Stibbs School, an elementary school facility in West Coquitlam, British Columbia, serving School District No.43, is an example of the reuse of a large portion of a whole structure in a new location. After a fire, the school buildings had to be rebuilt very quickly to meet community needs. Another school in the northern BC community of Cassiar was no longer required and had been taken down. The steel structure from this building was reused to speed up the construction process at the Roy Stibbs School. The work consisted of 2,470 m² new construction and 975 m² renovation, and was completed in less than a year.

This case study focuses on the issues that arose during the design and construction process, particularly relating to the reuse of steel components and the seismic upgrades that were necessary.

This case study was prepared by Jordan Edmonds and Vera Straka at the Department of Architectural Science, Ryerson University. The authors are grateful for the information and images provided by Robert Prescott.of Bush, Bohlman & Partners and Greg Brown of Killick, Metz, Brown, Rose Architects.