Expresso 17 | Shaping tomorrow

Our education shapes our opportunities. The greater our understanding, the greater our chances of a successful and fulfilling career and achieving our life’s ambitions. A well-designed school has the power to inspire, ignite our curiosity and be a force for cultural change. Less than a hundred years ago, educational institutions were used as a tool of segregation, with separate schools based on ethnicity, gender expression and cultural identity. We still feel the impact of these policies today. Fortunately, the pendulum has swung in the opposite direction, to encourage a more inclusive experience, valuing diversity of thought and backgrounds over social divisions. Mix in community health concerns like COVID-19 and you can see how the past two years have been instructive.

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DESIGN AS A FORCE FOR CULTURAL CHANGE

EXP’s director and senior architect in Eastern Canada, Stephen Outerbridge, has been at the forefront of these changes. When he first joined EXP, he had a large portfolio of institutional buildings and community spaces, but he immediately identified learning environments as an opportunity for the company, and his personal growth. Taking advantage of EXP’s tuition reimbursement program, Stephen pursued his accreditation as a learning environment planner (ALEP) and has applied his continuing education to the benefit of schools across the region and has encountered some unique challenges along the way.

Stephen Outerbridge, NSAA, AANB, AAPEI, RAIC, ALEP

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