Don Mills Community Recreation Centre
Toronto, Ontario
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Aquatic Centre, Twin-Pad Arena, Gymnasium, Indoor Track, Fitness, Studios, Multipurpose Rooms, EMS Station, Rooftop: Playground, Garden, Fitness, Walking Track, Gathering Areas
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Structural: Blackwell
Mechanical / Electrical: Smith + Andersen
Civil: Triton
Landscape: MJMA
Informed by extensive public consultation, the Don Mills Community Recreation Centre removes barriers to participation, bringing a full complement of amenities and social opportunities to serve all residents of its north Toronto neighbourhood. The tight urban site necessitated the stacking of program spaces over two levels, but this compact planning also presented the opportunity to connect the facility’s primary spaces to one another and to the outside. This openness particularly humanizes the typically tough exterior of the facility’s arenas. Double-height colonnades line three of the building’s façades, shading expanses of glazing while also revealing the facility’s interior life and activating the adjacent streets and park.
The ground-level multipurpose rooms, community hall, and community kitchen all open to the park, allowing for combined indoor-outdoor programming. A rooftop green terrace with seating and a running track adds further flexible-use space.
The complex is bound together with clear and straightforward circulation that is centred on a ‘social heart’ lobby space. This and visibility between programs throughout strengthen the sense of a vibrant community.
Major program spaces are invigorated with natural light that is controlled to mitigate glare and heat gain.
In addition to its universal washrooms and pool changerooms, the facility proposes universal arena change spaces that meet the mandates of Skate Canada and Hockey Canada to deliver safe and equitable change space for ice activities. This more open design accommodates privacy where required and promotes visibility, safety, and multiple access pathways.
