Last fall, the Yaldei School in Montreal, Quebec, which provides education and therapy to children ages 4 through 16 with intellectual disabilities, completed a $4.5 million renovation of the three-story former parochial school that it had moved into in 2016. The goal of this project, by the firm Stendel + Reich Architecture, was to create spaces that relieve students’ anxiety and, according to the school, make things fun.
“As a true all-under-one-roof facility, at Yaldei a child can receive every support [he or she needs], and benefit from the collaboration of a multidisciplinary team,” the school stated through a spokesperson. “As such, we are constantly seeking to improve and expand our range of services and therapies modalities, with the aim of reaching every child, and giving each one the best change at success.”
To achieve this, Cliff Stendel, associate principal at Stendel + Reich, studied extensively about the students’ different disabilities, and drew knowledge as well from his firm’s previous experience designing Alzheimer’s facilities.
For example, Alzheimer’s patients often have trouble navigating turns in corridors. So Stendel redesigned Yaldei with oval corridors where, if students turn the wrong way, they just follow the corridor around to where they started.
![The school's front entry](/sites/default/files/inline-images/Yaldei_01_front%20entry_Sketch%2BPixel_0.jpg)
School uses light as therapy
Stendel also realized, through observation, that students with learning disabilities get distracted easily. To address this, the remodeling of therapy rooms excluded direct windows to the outside; instead, glass walls face the corridor, and on the other side of the corridor are windows that let in sunlight.
Lighting is key to this project. Stendel installed thin light strips in various designs to minimize the effect of lighting on hypersensitive children. So-called RGB lights (for red, green, and blue) also contribute to the children’s therapy, and lend a sense of playfulness to the environment.
The school is roughly 40,000 sf, and was remodeled in phases:
• In 2018, renovation of 7,505 sf on the third floor, which is mostly classrooms for older students, was started, as was 335 sf of washroom space and a 1,475-sf administration area. Floors and ceilings were replaced, new lighting and storage installed, and the rooms were freshly painted. The third-floor reno was completed last fall, and included the addition of eight classrooms, a revamped MEP/HVAC system, an accessible bathroom, a kitchenette in each classroom, and a teacher resource room and library;
• In 2019, the 12,355-sf second floor received a full renovation that included moving separate therapy rooms there, and converting a portion of this space to an early intervention area;
• In 2020, 6,410 sf of main classroom space were renovated, as were 6,425 of the first floor’s 10,580 total square footage.
This renovation project has allowed Yaldei School to grow. In the past few years, its enrollment has increased by 20 percent to 110. (The school has 165 registered students.) The school also collaborates with more than 25 schools in Montreal to provide services to a total of 250 intellectually challenged children per year.
![A playful design enlivens the school's' interior](/sites/default/files/inline-images/AAP_0001.jpg)
As a result of its renovations, Yaldei Shcool recently initiated an early-intervention group for infants with multiple handicaps and intense physical needs; and added an Art and Social Skills group for girls with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder. These weekly groups help children learn social skills and use art to relieve stress.
Yaldei’s future plans call for adapting more rooms into fully equipped classrooms to meet anticipated enrollment increases.
Related Stories
Energy Efficiency | Aug 8, 2019
Florida’s first net-zero K-12 school opens
The building is distinguished by its rooftop solar array and its air-tight envelope.
K-12 Schools | Jul 15, 2019
Summer assignments: 2019 K-12 school construction costs
Using RSMeans data from Gordian, here are the most recent costs per square foot for K-12 school buildings in 10 cities across the U.S.
K-12 Schools | Jul 8, 2019
Collaborative for High Performance Schools releases 2019 Core Criteria Version 3.0 Update
The update adds credits to lower carbon footprints and to promote climate change resiliency.
Building Tech | Jun 26, 2019
Modular construction can deliver projects 50% faster
Modular construction can deliver projects 20% to 50% faster than traditional methods and drastically reshape how buildings are delivered, according to a new report from McKinsey & Co.
K-12 Schools | May 17, 2019
Tall schools, tight spaces: Giving students access to the outdoors requires considerable creativity
Verticality has some plusses, according to AEC firms that have engaged such projects recently.
K-12 Schools | Apr 25, 2019
How outdoor environments provide value to K-12 learning, health, and safety
Outdoor spaces at school offer students key opportunities to learn, problem solve, and mentally refresh.
K-12 Schools | Jan 21, 2019
Safer K-12 design: School should feel – and look – like school
In an age during which stories of bullying, school shootings, and mental health concerns are all too common, designers have a critical role to play in crafting K-12 schools that simultaneously promote engaged learning and student safety.
K-12 Schools | Nov 5, 2018
Modernizing schools is paying off in creating better learning and teaching environments
A new paper reports on a recent study of nine schools in Washington DC that gauged occupants’ perceptions.
K-12 Schools | Jul 26, 2018
K-12 market trends 2018: Common areas enable hands-on learning
Modern designs emphasize social and collaboration spaces outside the classroom.
| May 30, 2018
Accelerate Live! talk: From micro schools to tiny houses: What’s driving the downsizing economy?
In this 15-minute talk at BD+C’s Accelerate Live! conference (May 10, 2018, Chicago), micro-buildings design expert Aeron Hodges, AIA, explores the key drivers of the micro-buildings movement, and how the trend is spreading into a wide variety of building typologies.