Sydney Academy, a high school serving some 800 students in Sydney, Nova Scotia, was originally built in 1959, using glass block as a major feature of the building envelope. The glass block, integrated with small vision glass units, worked well for daylighting purposes and was an excellent choice for a translucent glazing in its day …

It’s not easy to break with tradition in one of the older settlements in North America. But when a new grade school was being planned in Sydney, Nova Scotia to replace a well-worn complex of buildings, the key stakeholders involved decided to do exactly that. The resulting new facility incorporates not only new electronic building controls and teaching equipment, but an entirely new approach to harvesting daylight in the classroom …

It’s not every day that one gets to design a circus school. There are only four in the world. Robert Magne, principal at Lapointe Magne et Associés, won that privilege in 2001 when his firm was commissioned by École Nationale de Cirque to create an entirely new, purpose-built facility. One look at the new structure makes it evident that he intended to have the building itself proclaim its role in the community …