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OCTOBER 2018 | 61 Cold Lake Energy Centre – Phase 3 RENDERING COURTESY BR2 ARCHITECTURE; PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY CITY OF COLD LAKE Cold Lake Energy Centre – Phase 3 by ROBIN BRUNET B y the time the contract was awarded for construction of phase three of the Cold Lake Energy Centre expansion in September of 2016, the excitement amongst residents of this small Albertan community about the long awaited completion of their recreation hub was palpable. Indeed, exactly two years later, Kevin Nagoya, chief administrative officer (CAO) for the City, notes, "Even though final touches are being undertaken, peo- ple are already utilizing the ice. Phase three of this project in particular deliv- ers a broader range of amenities that Cold Lake residents were pressing for." Cold Lake Energy Centre had seen plenty of growth in usership and inter- est over the years, and the $20-million phase three expansion would create a second arena, a 360-degree climb- ing wall, a lounge, office and storage space for local non-profit groups, a significant expansion of an existing concourse area, and a mini-stick arena. The new arena, designed in consul- tation with BR2 Architecture, would seat just under 400 people, with its own dressing rooms and a viewing area at the east end in which guests could also look onto the two-storey climbing wall. The lounge would feature a cater- ing kitchen and bar and overlook both the new arena and Imperial Oil Place arena, with the option to open the win- dows to accommodate private booths for concerts in Imperial Oil Place. As for the second floor concourse, its expansion would allow for access to the new arena, as well as an upper viewing area for the climbing wall. For BR2, phase three was the culmi- nation of a project that began in 2005, when the first phase consisted of the design and construction of a field house and fitness facility attached to Portage College's Cold Lake campus. "Phase two, which was designed and built in 2011 by Stantec and Scott Builders respectively, consisted of the design and construc- tion of a performance bowl arena to the north, and phase three would expand the entire master-planned site further north," explains Jim Carey, partner with BR2 Architecture. Given that phase three would tie into and complete the previous phases, one of BR2's initial tasks was to ensure a uniformity of design. "The first phase consisted of a conventional design- build structure, while phase two had been a pre-engineered structure," says Carey. "Because the third phase required a considerable degree of ver- satility in order to tie together with the first two facilities, we opted to build a conventional structure instead of a pre- engineered building – but we designed it to resemble the pre-engineered struc- ture, complete with massive girders." The City and BR2 collaborated closely in order to make every element of the expansion special. Nagoya says of the lounge, which straddles the two ice surfaces, "That's a perfect example of BR2's design ingenuity. It provides people with an immersive experience when there's a game or event taking place in either arena, but it also has roll up doors that can be deployed to seal it off, for private functions." Carey says, "The location of the new viewing lounge between the two viewing areas required raising the new lounge floor above the upper level plaza so that lounge patrons had an unobstructed view to ice level play. Working within the existing building pre-engineered structure, we devel- oped seating 'boxes' between the structural columns. The new lounge south face is open to the existing per- formance arena, with the overhead doors retracting for a completely unob- structed line of sight." BR2 was also tasked with creat- ing a new north face primary entrance that in future phases may lead to addi- tional recreation area expansions. "We designed it to be large, wide, and fully glazed, almost like a huge glass cube, leading directly to a commons space and the climbing wall," says Carey, to which Nagoya adds, "The climbing wall's orientation to the new entrance makes it a showpiece; but equally important, it was designed for use by kids all the way up to high performing climbers." The expansion focused on bringing natural light into the center of the con- course, and past the climbing wall to the ice rink separation through a large expanse of glass. A new second level multipurpose room was designed to have glazed openings to the new arena, the lower concourse, and the climbing wall. Operations offices were added to the main and second floor levels, all located on exterior walls in order to be bathed in natural light. Accessibility was equally impor- tant to the success of the expansion, and this was accomplished throughout the facility with the addition of a new oversized passenger/freight elevator serving main to second levels. Plus, BR2 designed the upper lounge with a barrier free lift connecting the raised lounge floor level to the viewing area plaza. Oversize doors would be located at the new north entrance, and the recessed floor of the climbing wall was equipped with a barrier free ramp. Bird Construction's work on the expansion proceeded without any major problems, but Ryan Hubscher, principal at Protostatix Engineering Consultants Inc., says that "great care was taken to tie into the existing facili- ties, so footings in the foundation were offset, and in a few areas we added out- riggers and beams. Metal panels were installed in critical areas such as in the arena, and the climbing wall required additional framing for fortification." Building materials used by Bird were chosen with an eye towards achieving a 40-plus year lifespan, "hence concrete blocks with epoxy coating wherever possible, porcelain tiles, and synthetic wood for accents," says Carey. As of September, Cold Lake Centre was already a huge success with user groups, as Nagoya testifies. "As we speak, I'm in my truck at the facility trying to find parking, and it's all full up – at 1p.m. on a weekday," he says. Nagoya concludes, "In the future we may add a swimming pool and will expand the field house, but for all intents and purposes we have our ideal recreation hub. This is a terrific addi- tion to our community." A LOCATION 7825 – 51 Street, Cold Lake, Alberta OWNER/DEVELOPER City of Cold Lake ARCHITECT BR2 Architecture GENERAL CONTRACTOR Bird Construction Inc. STRUCTURAL CONSULTANT Protostatix Engineering Consultants Inc. MECHANICAL CONSULTANT Smith + Andersen ELECTRICAL CONSULTANT Concept Engineering TOTAL SIZE 6,003 square metres TOTAL COST $20 million

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