St. Boniface Catholic Elementary School

Location

Breslau, ON

Client

Waterloo Catholic District School Board

Size

43,000 ft²

Project Type

Elementary School
Child Care
EarlyON Centre

The new St. Boniface Catholic Elementary School is a true community hub, bringing together multiple elements of child care under a single roof. The facility accommodates an elementary school for 257 students, a five-room Child Care Centre for 88 children, and a three-room Ontario EarlyON family centre accessible to the public.

A brightly day-lit Forum, Chapel, and Learning Commons are located next to the school’s main entrance. A second floor bridge overlooks the Forum, bringing daylight deep into the school and creating a bright, cheerful breakout space. Elementary School Classrooms feature integrated pods for flexible learning, while appropriately sized millwork in Early Years and Child Care rooms scale to children’s needs.

Flexible Sacred Space

When the standard program template didn't include space for a Chapel, an essential space for this new Catholic School, we found an opportunity. We carved space from the Learning Commons and connected the two areas with an operable partition. This creates an intimate Chapel for quiet contemplation or larger gatherings when the partition is open.

Daylight washes the Chapel's wood panelling through translucent wall panels, creating a sacred atmosphere that materially distinguishes this space from the rest of the school environment.

Mixed-Use Facility

The community-focused Early Years Facilities occupy their own wing, with a ground-floor Child Care Centre and second-floor EarlyON Centre. Through careful architectural space-planning, we enabled three user groups to share spaces without compromising functionality or individual identity.

All three facilities operate independently within the building through separate entrances with distinct graphic identities. Clear building signage directs users along internal circulation paths, and secure access points enable children to move safely within their educational and care environments.