Guelph South End Community Centre
Guelph, Ontario
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Aquatic Centre, Twin-Pad Arena (640 Spectator Seats), Double Gymnasium, Indoor Track, Multipurpose Rooms, Extension to Existing Community Park
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Structural: Blackwell
Mechanical / Electrical: Smith + Andersen
Civil: EMC
Landscape: NAK Design Strategies
The Guelph South End Community Centre is located in a park and neighbourhood that is currently experiencing the most rapid population growth in the city of Guelph. More broadly, the project sits within the Paris-Galt Moraine, a 150km-long landscape that plays a vital ecological role locally and regionally. The new complex connects visitors to this setting, while its bold presence and sustainability announce it as a civic landmark. At the time of its design, the project was the first in Canada with its type of program mix to achieve the Canadian Building Council Net Zero Carbon standard, surpassing the project’s initial LEED Silver target and furthering the City of Guelph’s goal to be a zero-carbon community by 2050.
Public consultation revealed a widespread desire for comprehensive aquatics and arena amenities, a gymnasium, and flexible spaces for gathering and group activities accommodating all ages and abilities. The facility also had to meet both recreational and competition needs. The adroit planning means that natural light is pulled into all primary spaces, and views to the surrounding verdant landscape are optimized on both levels so that, even from within such a large building, the visitor’s experience of wellness is heightened.
The facility is situated in the existing South End community park, one of the premier parks in the city, with ball diamonds immediately to the south and a high school to the north. The project’s landscape design includes trails that link into an existing civic system
The centre’s bulk, due to its four large athletic spaces, is mitigated by the faceting of its form and judicious use of glazing. These windows give inviting views of the facility’s interior activities and are oriented via angled openings, to reduce glare inside the sports halls.
The massing places the pools, gymnasium, and two arenas in a clear quadrant configuration. These spaces are also skewed, opening up a continuous freeform area between them that comprises two courtyard-plazas on the exterior and the generous interior lobby. The lobby is both highly transparent connective tissue and the ‘social heart’ of the complex, providing ample space for gatherings and intuitive wayfinding.
