Orillia Recreation Centre
Orillia, Ontario
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Aquatic Centre (8-Lane 25m Competition Pool with Movable Floor, Leisure Pool, Hydro Therapy Pool, Climbing Wall, Diving Boards), Double FIBA-Sized Gymnasium, Fitness Space, Indoor Track, Multi-Use Studio, Pre-School Room, Multipurpose Rooms, Picnic Area, Playground, Multi-Use Trails
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Structural: Blackwell
Mechanical / Electrical: Smith + Andersen
Civil: WSP (formerly MMM)
Landscape: PMA -
2023 American Institute of Architects (AIA) Canada: Award of Merit
2022 Graphic Design USA (GDUSA): Design Award
2022 Athletic Business: Facilities of Merit Design Award
2022 Ontario Association of Architects (OAA): Design Excellence Award (Finalist)
2016 Canadian Brownfields Network: Brownie Award
The Orillia Community Recreation Centre and its 26-acre naturalized ‘Foundry Park’ reimagine Orillia’s industrial history and reference both the site’s previous use as a foundry and the city’s legacy of red brick civic buildings. The project is an exemplary redevelopment of a brownfield site: it transforms a previously uninhabitable location into a new ‘social heart’ for the city that supports an array of current and future uses.
The City wanted the facility to be both a competition venue and a community centre that also met a long-standing need for aquatics and gymnasium amenities in Orillia. The rich program mix is layered and flexible, accommodating both tournament-based play and community recreational and social use, with a connective tissue of indoor and outdoor civic spaces. The facility’s interior and exterior, including the park, are overlaid with a comprehensive experiential design program.
Beginning in the 19th century, the site and surrounding area were occupied by heavy industries. These were mostly closed or demolished by the 1990s, leaving behind contaminated land. The project’s extensive remediation and reclamation of the site has set a precedent for the development of other unused brownfield areas in the centre of the city.
Orillia’s storied industrial past and the site’s history as a foundry are evoked with the building’s four-square massing as well as a simple but bold palette of materials — variegated moulded brick, black aluminum curtainwall, blackened steel, and cedar — for the interior and exterior, within the park, and as part of an integrated Experiential Design program that animates the building and site.
The Recreation Centre houses a double gymnasium that can be used as performance space, a 3-basin natatorium, fitness and multipurpose spaces, a community art gallery, and an indoor track, with a connective tissue of social and civic spaces.
The clerestory-level track is a unifying feature. As they navigate the circuit, patrons have views into all primary program spaces and panoramic vistas over the park and city beyond. A separate arm of the track offers a 2-meter grade change for those wanting a more challenging workout.
The building is nestled into a 26-acre naturalized park that has native grasses and trees, a wetland, and pathways connecting into the city’s well-used and expanding trail system.
