Mount Dennis Early Learning and Child Care Centre in Toronto was designed by CS&P Architects Inc. in association with Coolearth Architecture Inc.Scott Norsworthy
“Day two,” says Laura Henriques as she walks over to greet a mom and her baby.
“Day two for the baby? That’s cool,” says this writer.
It’s the first infant to grace the soft floors of the baby room (zero to 18 months) at 1234 Weston Rd., also known as the Mount Dennis Early Learning and Child Care Centre, which has been open for less than a month. It’s bright, cheery, colourful, and, in the coming months, will be filled with even more pitter-patter of little feet, wails of joy and sadness, laughter, and the cacophony of playtime.
“Laura’s done a great job,” says Nino Dodaro, program manager of asset management with the City of Toronto.
“Toys for the children, furniture, everything has to be specifically designed for them,” says Ms. Henriques. And then there are all of the “kitchen items, janitorial items, the list is endless,” she says with a laugh.
It takes a great many items to fill the 19,000-square-foot, 98-space facility, but what is even more interesting is the container itself. Designed by CS&P Architects Inc. in association with Coolearth Architecture Inc., the building is the first net-zero child-care centre in the city.
“Basically, the amount of energy the building needs is supplanted by the amount of energy the building generates on its own,” says CS&P principal Peter Pastor. “And [energy that] is clean, the entire building is electric, there’s no gas-fueled appliances … and there are also methods to mitigate energy use, and those are partly Passive House principles.”
The structure is considered energy net zero in that the amount of energy the building needs is supplanted by the amount of energy the building generates on its own.Scott Norsworthy
To wit: the long side of the building faces south to catch the low, warming sun in winter (an overhang prevents high summer sun from baking first-floor occupants, plus the bulk of the second floor has been clad in charcoal grey to minimize it visually to the single-family houses it faces); there is geothermal heating and cooling under the outdoor play areas; a 100 kilowatt photovoltaic array on the roof and battery power storage system assist the geothermal, provide domestic hot water, and will supply 12 hours of continuous building operation during power outages; walls have 16 inches of insulation and windows are triple pane; and CLT construction (cross laminated timber) reduce off-site emissions.
But none of that would matter much if the building were utilitarian or clinical, or worse, if parents didn’t feel comfortable dropping off their precious little packages each day. Luckily, colour, joy and life begin on the sidewalk just outside the front door, where parents and passersby alike are greeted with a sprinkling of jaunty benches and bright chartreuse tile surrounding a glassy peek into a double-height lobby.
Walk inside, and the colour continues. There is also a heaping helping of warm wood on the ceiling overhead, as panels on walls, and as door frames: “Most of the frames are wood,” confirms Mr. Pastor. “And then, up here, these are glulam beams and wood decking and CLT for the flooring. … There’s a mix of steel structure as well, but it’s mostly wood [and] the wood is part of the ambience of the space.”
There's a 100 kW photo-voltaic array on the roof, and geothermal heating and cooling under the outdoor play areas.Scott Norsworthy
But walk into the infant, toddler, or preschooler rooms and wood and window-views of greenery and blue sky provide most of the colour, since primary colours such as red or bright yellow might overstimulate the little ones. That thinking also influenced Ms. Henriques’s furniture choices: “We do not buy coloured furniture, colour is from the art, from the toys,” she says. And when the (inevitable) emotional meltdowns do happen, the space is designed with look-throughs into other rooms and even into common areas so that additional staff can assess or assist.
Upstairs, past the bank of little lockers, is the demonstration kitchen. Here, staff can teach little ones about food safety, or, much more importantly, how cookies are made (and eaten). “The children would sit here,” says Ms. Henriques, pointing to a low bench fronting an equally low kitchen island complete with sink, “and then we cook away; the little baby that just came in, the mom is Indigenous, and she’s going to make bannock with us. … This is what we’re going to utilize this space for: getting our parents involved, grandparents, cooking, baking, [and then] eat.”
The real kitchen – the one that feeds the kids every day – is much larger and located in the basement. Down here, staff can park their bicycles and take a shower, or check the room that contains tall cabinets with the Sol-Ark batteries that store all of that free energy being generated on the roof. Or, one can take a walk past the orderly, snaking pipes of various sizes that belong to the geothermal system, heat pumps, and the domestic water system.
It took five years to get the Mount Dennis Early Learning and Child Care Centre built, licensed and full of children. Construction began, unfortunately, at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, which meant there were numerous delays in getting materials. And, even when things ramped up again, there was additional bureaucracy to deal with, says Mr. Dodaro: “We deal with the [provincial] Ministry of Education – outside our control – and that can take months and months to set up and get licensing.” A building such as this, adds Mr. Pastor, should take about 2½ years from start to finish.
But now that those big, glassy doors have swung open onto Weston Road and all signs suggest the building will meet its net-zero targets admirably, the only things to worry about will be the many scraped knees, runny noses, angry outbursts, or the occasional batch of burnt cookies (or bannock).
“Children are our future,” Mr. Pastor says with a smile.
Editor’s note: This article has been update to clarify that the project was designed by CS&P Architects Inc. in association with Coolearth Architecture Inc.