David Braley Vaughan Metropolitan Centre of Community
Vaughan, Ontario
In Collaboration with Diamond Schmitt
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Aquatic Centre (8-Lane 25m Lap Pool, Leisure Pool, Changerooms), Double FIBA-Sized Gymnasium, Fitness Studios, Multipurpose Rooms, Music Studio, Community Kitchen, Branch Library (Workroom, Computer Lab, Teen Zone, Children's Zone), VMC Express Kiosk, Child Care, Event Space, Rooftop Terrace
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Structural: Blackwell
Mechanical / Electrical: Smith + Andersen
Landscape: MJMA -
2024 Association of Registered Interior Designers of Ontario (ARIDO): Gather + Play Finalist (Vaughan Public Library)
2024 Athletic Business: Facilities of Merit Design Award
The Vaughan Metropolitan Centre of Community is a uniquely programmed complex at the heart of SmartVMC — Vaughan’s new city centre and an innovative 100-acre mixed-use development. MJMA designed the interior architecture occupying the three-level podium below the development’s PwC Tower. MJMA’s scope included three components: a 77,000-sf flagship YMCA; a Vaughan Public Library branch; and the City of Vaughan Studios and Event Space.
Each agency is able to independently schedule its programming, and yet together they form a cohesive and bustling community environment with flexible program spaces able to serve all residents. The lobby is equipped to host public events and designed to invite comfortable lingering but also functions as an internal street — open 24 hours and directly connecting to commercial, residential, and transit amenities. Its light-filled, cantilevered feature stair seems to expand as it climbs, offering views into the lobby and across the complex into the primary activity spaces of the library, community centre, and YMCA. On the second and third levels, the gymnasium and studios open onto outdoor terraces and can be combined to accommodate gatherings of various sizes.
The Centre's various agencies comprise a vital hub for health, culture, and community growth at the heart of a burgeoning city centre.
The level-2 library is a bright, expansive, L-shaped space with continuous glazing along three exterior walls, including that overlooking a new civic plaza. At street level, a 400 sf self-service library storefront — ‘VMC Express’, the first service of its kind in the Vaughan Public Library system — is accessible 24-hours from the lobby.
MJMA has developed a signage and wayfinding program for the YMCA facilities across the Greater Toronto Area. Their location at Vaughan Metropolitan Centre was one of the first to feature the new standards.
