The Future-Proof Institution: Adaptive Re-Use of the Abandoned St. Patrick's Alexandra into a Community-Led Institution

Abstract

Institutions that have singular programs (like schools providing Education) end up closing due to their inability to adapt to changes in their communities. One such institution is St. Patrick’s Alexandra, a former K-9 school on Brunswick St. in the North End of Halifax, Nova Scotia. It has been left abandoned for 13 years because of disagreements about its future between the municipality, the developer who bought the property, and the school’s community. This thesis develops an alternative scenario where the property is entrusted to a non-profit community group instead of a developer. It will adapt to its changing community in order to maintain its valuable cultural and social role into the foreseeable future. This will be accomplished through transformations of the building using adaptive re-use methods which will create permanent elements to support changes in use, and will celebrate the existing heritage and culture of the school and its community.