New renderings show detailed design of Olympic Village Elementary School | Daily Hive

New renderings show the detailed design of Vancouver's Olympic Village Elementary School

April 2026 detailed concept of the new Olympic Village Elementary School. (McFarland Marceau Architects/Vancouver School Board)

Just weeks after Vancouver City Council approved the rezoning application for the new Olympic Village Elementary School, a development permit application has been submitted to advance the project further.

This latest submission provides refined project details, along with new and more detailed conceptual renderings that offer a clearer and more comprehensive view of the design.

The Vancouver School Board aims to begin construction in Spring 2027, with completion targeted for 2029 and the school opening to students by Fall 2029, in time for the new academic year. The project is supported by $150 million in funding from the provincial government.

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The school will be built on a 29,000 sq. ft. open grassy area within the northeast quadrant of Hinge Park — a municipally owned site located near the northern foot of Columbia Street in the Olympic Village neighbourhood, just south of the False Creek seawall. Since the 2000s, this site has been identified as a potential future school location under the City’s Southeast False Creek Official Community Plan.

The project consists of a four-storey hybrid mass-timber building with a total floor area of 59,700 sq. ft. It will include 26 classrooms across levels two to four, accommodating up to 630 students from Kindergarten to Grade 7. Additionally, the school will provide 60 before- and after-school childcare spaces.

olympic village elementary school vancouver april 2026

April 2026 detailed concept of the new Olympic Village Elementary School. (McFarland Marceau Architects/Vancouver School Board)

A substantial portion of the ground floor will be dedicated to the gymnasium and three multi-purpose rooms. The main entrance into the school will be located on the north side of the building, facing the seawall.

To reduce the building’s footprint within the park, the classrooms are stacked vertically, and a partial fifth level will provide access to a secure rooftop outdoor play area. This space will include courts for basketball and soccer, flexible play areas, and zones for play equipment and line games, all screened for safety.

According to McFarland Marceau Architects, the school’s design is conceived as a “pavilion” within the park — featuring community-oriented spaces and a wraparound porch at ground level — while remaining intentionally distinct from the surrounding residential buildings.

April 2026 detailed concept of the new Olympic Village Elementary School. (McFarland Marceau Architects/Vancouver School Board)

It is estimated that approximately 75 per cent of the school’s enrolment (about 472 students) will come from the local catchment area, with the remaining 25 per cent (about 158 students) drawn from adjacent, over-capacity catchments, including Fraser, False Creek, and Crosstown.

The pick-up and drop-off area will be located along Columbia Street, directly outside the school, with space for five to six curbside vehicles. A transportation analysis conducted by Stantec indicates this will be sufficient to meet demand without significant queuing or delays.

The school will also include four accessible parking stalls and two loading spaces in a surface lot on the south side of the property.

The municipal government is in the early stages of exploring a redesign of this segment of Columbia Street, proposing to convert it from a two-way roadway into a one-way, southbound-only street. This change would allow for the addition of a bidirectional bike lane on the west side, creating a direct connection to the seawall for cyclists.

Ground-level floor plan of the school building, and the vehicle pick-up/drop-off area on Columbia Street under a new one-way, southbound-only configuration to accommodate a new bidirectional bike lane; April 2026 detailed concept of the new Olympic Village Elementary School. (McFarland Marceau Architects/Vancouver School Board)

Outdoor building rooftop play space; April 2026 detailed concept of the new Olympic Village Elementary School. (McFarland Marceau Architects/Vancouver School Board)

April 2026 detailed concept of the new Olympic Village Elementary School. (McFarland Marceau Architects/Vancouver School Board)

During the public hearing for the rezoning application this past winter, much of the opposition focused on the perceived excess enrolment capacity and the height of the building — beyond what was originally envisioned for the school project — as well as concerns about potential traffic impacts and the loss of semi-permanent green space established over the past 15 years. However, the larger school capacity — among the largest within the VSB’s elementary system — is being pursued to help the school board address enrolment pressures over both the short term, providing catch-up capacity, and very long term growth.

Although it was highlighted as a possible school feature during the rezoning process, this development permit application does not contemplate turning Hinge Park’s remaining open grassy area — a triangular-shaped parcel closest to the seawall, immediately north of the future school entrance — into an outdoor play area.

More school capacity will be coming to the Downtown Vancouver peninsula in September 2026, when cəw̓as Ch’elxwá7elch Skwuláw̓txw Seaside Elementary School on the Coal Harbour seawall opens. The school is located within a new 11-storey, mixed-use building, with a 43,000 sq. ft. school space spanning the first three levels, providing a capacity for 317 students. The fourth level contains a 9,600 sq. ft. childcare facility for 64 kids, while the remaining six levels in the upper half of the building will provide 60 social housing units.

olympic village elementary school vancouver vsb

Site of Olympic Village Elementary School. (McFarland Marceau Architects/Vancouver School Board)

The large open grassy site at Hinge Park in Vancouver’s Olympic Village is slated to become an elementary school and daycare. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

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