Doing the Right Thing,  Nhan Pham’s Designs for Vic High

By Linda Baker, VHS 1969

“I knew from the very start,” says the calm, centered woman seated before me in the James Bay coffee shop, “that this was a very important job, and I needed to do the right thing.” So begins our conversation, as Nhan Pham, interior designer on the massive seismic upgrade of Vic High, shares stories about her work helping keep Vic High’s historic character.

The architectural firm hires the designer, and so it was that Jim Mann, HDR, the lead architect on the project, brought in someone he’d worked with on previous projects. “I was hired to design all sorts of things,” Nhan explains, “ceilings, lockers, flooring patterning, millwork, colour schemes. And of course, finding homes for items the Heritage Architect on the project had tagged for possible repurposing.”

The upgrade to Vic High was not formally designated as a ‘heritage restoration’. The design brief for the project, however, did define the theme as ‘historical’. So the goal was to salvage as many architectural items as possible and repurpose them into the updated school. The interior was completely stripped down to the studs. Once the seismic work was done, and recreating the interior spaces began, the second floor Grant Street entrance foyer and adjoining south hallway were re-created to match the original build, yet maintain modern conveniences. (See our earlier story on the team that recreated the original egg-and-dart moulding in this Heritage Hallway.)

Anyone who has toured Vic High since last April, or seen photos the Alumni has shared, will agree that the school has definitely retained its historical feeling while creating the contemporary, functional spaces that support today’s learning styles. Much credit for that overall feeling goes to lead architect Jim Mann, who also designed the 2011 Fairey Tech addition on the school’s north side, and to Project Architect Diana Studer.

However, it was Nhan’s work that brought the school’s history into clear focus around the school. The skillful marriage of old and new called on her 17 years as a designer and her deepening respect for the iconic school and the communities that held it so close. “The project was complicated from the start,” she continues. “Often as I started to work on designs for an area, we’d discover that specific items were simply not available, like customized ceiling trims and historical lighting. I’d often get ‘They don’t make that anymore’ when I tried to source products we wanted.”

In one instance, a local business, Water Glass Studio, stepped up to help provide the glass for 2^nd floor heritage hallway lighting. “Custom glass blowers in BC had retired,” says Nhan,  “so the owner helped us commission the work in the US and ship items back here for completion.”

Nhan focussed a fair bit of time on the design and finishes for the school’s General Office. “We saved the old vault door and it now provides entry to a large supplies storage room,” says Nhan. “The old accounting window was re-used to give access to the Accounts Clerk’s office from the main hallway.” Administrative staff love their new space with its high windows and beautiful woodwork that reflects the building’s age. In some cases, doors were salvaged and re-finished, and door frames and handles were added new. In some areas, like many of the wooden rail caps on the original stairwells, ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ meant the old patina was kept, scratches and all.

“We drew inspiration for the colour schemes from the Fernwood neighbourhood,” says Nhan. “There are many heritage homes in more sombre colours. But Fernwood’s  vibrant and artistic culture includes bright colours, too, on the homes, the art on the telephone poles.” Nhan proposed a range of bright accent colours in the school, one for each floor, to create intuitive wayfinding and help everyone navigate the vast school more easily, set against the backdrop of bright, warm white.

And just so you know, choosing a shade of white for any space, commercial or residential, is a designer’s challenge. How we see a colour on a wall is influenced by many things: exterior light from windows, interior light from fixtures, the walls and other features in the space, reflections from glazing or shiny lockers. The end result at Vic High, though, has made a big difference to the overall feel in the school. Many alumni on their tours of the school noted how bright it now feels.

Many other features familiar to alumni are still found in the school as well. Earlier renovations to the school almost resulted in the original Rhodesian Mahogany flooring in the 3^rd floor library being ripped up and discarded. Thankfully wiser heads prevailed and the 1914 flooring brought to Victoria around South Africa’s Cape of Good Hope was refinished and retained. Many alumni asked whether it survived the latest upgrades. “Definitely,” says Nhan. “We fought to keep the center portion and designed an open collaboration space around it, adjacent to two new classrooms.” And when demolition in the area revealed a gap between the edge of the wooden flooring and the outer wall, white hexagonal tiles salvaged from the original washroom floors installed.

The new Spanish classroom, in the southeast corner of the 2^nd floor Heritage Hallway, is now showcased as a heritage classroom. The wood flooring was salvaged and repurposed, the hutch was saved and is now a hand wash sink/storage unit with counter made from the marble partitions in the old washrooms. The new pendant lighting matches the era when the school was built, and the only chalkboard in the school – saved, of course – now lines the back (east) wall of the classroom.

Authenticity, not perfection, is prevalent in many areas, including the tiled floor in the former cafeteria on the 1^st floor. The Textiles classroom now occupies most of this space, and the large hexagonal tiles were left in place, with gaps and cracks filled in with concrete and the whole floor sealed. In fact, the majority of the original washroom floor tiles were repurposed, many in the counselling offices adjacent to the textiles room.

The list of items tagged by HDR Heritage Architect Krystal Stevenot was extensive. Nhan and Krystal worked diligently, until Krystal moved on to her current work with the City of Victoria, to find new homes for as many elements as possible. For example, the wooden bleacher seats seating from the Andrews Gym were repurposed and installed atop the tiered concrete seating in the new Multi Purpose Room.

Some features, though, were specifically designed to honour the school’s history. “I spent hours creating the design for the mosaic on the Main floor,” says Nhan, “painstakingly working out the exact placement of each small tile on my computer.”

The 1-8-7-6 seen on the new bleachers in the Andrews Gym were also Nhan’s handiwork. Even when the bleachers are opened up, the gold numbers are visible against the black background.

The renewal of Vic High presented endless challenges. But from the hundreds of alumni who have so far toured the school, there’s been nothing but gratitude and appreciation for the end result. We are grateful for the talents and experience of Nhan and Jim and Diana and so many others. It is the Vic High many alumni remember, just brighter and well organized for today’s learning, a place where students of today and tomorrow are already creating memories and setting their sights on their futures.