The Alderwood Centre is a Community Centre attached to a public school. A two-storey height internal ‘street’ connects the school, a daycare, a gymnasium, a swimming pool, a public library and a group of community meeting rooms.

Within a very limited budget, the project sought to produce a maximal result within the elongated space.

The band of south-facing windows just under the roofline stretches along the entire length of the corridor.

Silver-stained panels were combined with acid-etched mouth-blown glass to create five simple coloured sections along the corridor.

In the wintertime, the low sun-angle projects the light onto the north wall of the corridor. They are highest on the wall at the Winter Solstice, and then each day are found a little lower on the wall.

As the day progresses, the light projections change position and interact with various built elements – turning corners and bending across various planes and surfaces. Projections into the swimming pool and wavy reflections on the pool’s glass enclosure wall add further interest.

By the Spring and Fall Equinoxes, the band of projected light has moved to the centre of the corridor floor, and in the summer time, a narrow sliver remains, then disappears during the Summer Solstice before the cycle reverses and the projection begins to grow again.

The piece is seen daily by school children of all ages, and serves as a lesson in solar movement, as well as an enlivening element in their environment. Other less frequent viewers who use the community facilities will find an always varying artwork at play, full of subtle surprises as they come and go.