Great Plains Recreation Facility
Calgary, Alberta
In Collaboration with Marshall Tittemore Architects
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Twin-Pad Arena, Pro Shop, Concession, Multipurpose Rooms, Meeting Rooms
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Structural: RJC
Mechanical: SNC-Lavalin (formerly Wiebe Forest)
Electrical: SMP
Civil: Urban Systems
Landscape: IBI -
2020 Society for Experiential Graphic Design (SEGD) Global Design Awards: Finalist
2019 International Olympic Committee (IOC) / International Association for Sports and Leisure Facilities (IAKS): Architecture Prize
2017 City of Calgary: Mayor's Urban Design Award of Excellence
2017 Athletic Business: Facilities of Merit Design Award
2017 Association of Registered Interior Designers of Ontario (ARIDO): Award of Merit
Calgary’s ongoing recreation facility program aims to develop complexes that will provide accessible and sustainable recreation opportunities and accommodate a variety of sports at different levels of play. The Great Plains Recreation Facility brings together ice enthusiasts from across the city for hockey, sledge hockey, ringette, figure skating, and recreational public skates.
Located at the city’s eastern edge, the Recreation Facility is a new civic anchor that elevates the architectural expression of its light-industrial surroundings, serving as an architectural and social catalyst for a developing area. The project began with the principle that recreation facilities are civic spaces that create healthy communities; thus their design should also promote meaningful social engagement. With this in mind, the new complex takes a vital but often under-appreciated public building typology (the hockey arena) and inverts its typical planning to create a place that is focused on fostering community.
The building’s siting and configuration anticipate future expansion: the plan’s geometry allows it to be flipped and mirrored, to eventually make a 4-pad facility with two arrival courts and a centralized lobby around an elevated restaurant space.
An arena plan usually has the team rooms at the centre of the facility, with social areas occupying residual spaces around the rinks.
The Great Plains Recreation Facility places the changerooms on the periphery, allowing a centralized lobby and social space to be created at the ‘heart’ of the complex.
A bright orange, carved extrusion at the primary elevation acts as an entrance signifier and mimics the low prairie sunset — the cornerstone of our Experiential Design approach. Especially during cold weather, it doubles as a welcoming hearth-like gesture, filtering visitors into the lobby behind.
The light-filled central space has contiguous warm-side / cold-side viewing areas and can accommodate casual spectator groups and team gatherings. Throughout, colour unifies the wayfinding with the building’s architectural expression.
