Thinkspace Chosen for New Mission Senior Secondary School

Thinkspace Architecture Planning Interior Design Ltd., as the architectural lead of a design-build team headed by Ventana Construction Corporation (Design-Build), is very pleased to announce that we have been selected to deliver the new $175 million Mission Senior Secondary School.

This project award has been the culmination of a long design-build process that began with an initial project announcement by the Province of British Columbia and Mission School District (SD #75) in April 2024 for a new senior secondary school in the community, which is located approximately 75 km east of Vancouver.

Thinkspace and Ventana submitted an initial Request for Qualifications (RFQ) in October 2024, and the team was shortlisted to move on to the Request for Proposal (RFP) stage in December 2024. For the RFP, Thinkspace and Ventana partnered with a consultant team that includes: RWDI (acoustics), Pontem (code compliance), RJC (structural + envelope), Introba (mechanical + energy modelling), AES (electrical), Aplin Martin (civil), ETA (landscape), and Geopacific (geotechnical).

The Thinkspace / Ventana team competed against other design-build submissions from two other teams. Technical submissions were made to Infrastructure BC, which managed the procurement process, by the RFP teams in May 2025 and financial submissions in July 2025. Thinkspace / Ventana was announced as the preferred proponent on October 21, 2025.

Ventana, a general contractor and design-builder based in Burnaby, BC that specializes in large-scale institutional, civic, and commercial projects, will be responsible for building the new school.

The new 14,805 sq m high school will feature space for 1,500 students, with the option of a future 250-student expansion, plus childcare facilities, a neighbourhood learning centre for the community, and a dedicated Halq’eméylem language and cultural centre. Sustainability will be a key element of the design, which will include significant greenhouse gas reduction measures. The school will also include Indigenous education and community spaces, and incorporate local culture and language throughout the facility.

Lee Blanchard, principal at Thinkspace and the company’s lead for K-12 projects, noted that the announcement of a successful proponent is the culmination of a more than a year’s effort by this team. “Thinkspace and Ventana started working together on this project back in August of 2024, and through a lot of hard work, we’ve been selected to deliver this very important new school facility,” said Blanchard.

He went on to say, “The design this team has submitted is exceptional in every respect, and I’d like to thank everyone who has gotten us to where we are today. We’re eager to finish the design work and start construction.”

School District No. 75’s requirement to design and deliver a large, modern school with complex programmatic elements in an existing residential neighbourhood was a significant ask of the design teams. That challenge notwithstanding, extensive experience from Thinkspace, Ventana, and the associated consultants in creating contemporary educational environments, combined with a highly innovative design approach, proved to be the winning formula for the District. The net result of this team’s efforts is a unique, inspired, and solution-oriented four-storey school that will endure for decades, is mindful of the community, elegant in design, and highly functional in all respects. View fly-through video here.

Mission Senior Secondary School will be delivered in three phases:  phase 1 – construction of the new school building; phase 2 – demolition of the existing school; and phase 3 – siteworks (playfields, courts, and parking lot). Design is scheduled to be complete in fall 2026, with construction starting soon after and students in their new school for the 2028-29 academic year; substantial completion will be finished a year later.