Situated within a growing suburban neighborhood, the project converts a 50-acre agricultural field into richly textured parkland with a 75,000 sq ft Community Center as its focus. The Center’s simple yet dynamic mass is integrated with the sports and leisure park to form a neighbourhood landmark and vital, city-wide destination for gathering and healthful activity. The building has cantilevers on its exterior that provide shelter for a walking track around its perimeter and for those using the park amenities.
The striking canopy that runs along the west and south facades extends the building’s Mass Timber structure — an array of glulam columns that provide structural and curtainwall framing. This structure is clad in expanded aluminum mesh that protects the wood from the elements and filters light to mitigate glare within the lobby, pool, and gyms. Inside, the lobby, pools, and gyms are covered with a stretched membrane assembly that is perforated for acoustic insulation. This ceiling’s inverted peaks diffuse light from a series of sawtooth skylights above.
Practically this eliminates glare and excess heat gain; the overall effect also evokes serenely-lit caverns. These spaces connect to the outside via full-height glazing. The park offers a series of leisure and fitness spaces spread across a landscape whose gently rolling hills are made from soil reclaimed during excavation. A measured trail loop connects all park programs and passes by environmental stewardship zones, a protected wet-land, and stormwater management pond. It also ties into an existing trail network and the surrounding neighborhood.