Award

D E C E M B E R 2 0 2 2 | 57 Canada Games Park and Neil Campbell Rowing Centre P H OTO G R A P H Y BY J A M E S RU D DY + R EN D ER I N GS CO U RT E S Y C A N A DA GA M E S H OS T S O C I E T Y I N C . CANADA GAMES PARK AND NEIL CAMPBELL ROWING CENTRE by ROBIN BRUNET O ne of the most satisfying aspects for the owners, archi- tects, and builders of the Canada Games Park (CGP), which con- sists of a 212,400-square-foot sports complex, and the Neil Campbell Rowing Centre, is now that both buildings have served their function in the Niagara 2022 Canada Summer Games they are fulfilling their intended legacy use of serving Brock University and the wider community in Ontario's Golden Horseshoe. Both facilities are also a striking example of beautiful aesthetics wed- ded to a wide array of functions. CGP's Walker Sports and Abilities Centre has three main sports halls – a glazed quadruple gymnasium, a 1,000-seat spectator arena, and a practice arena – that together comprise over 210,000 square feet and are topped by a trian- gular canopy folded to meet the various height requirements of the spaces below. A central axis connects a new cer- emonial plaza entrance to the north and parking to the south, carving out a social space that offers inte- rior circulation and lobby views into the athletic halls. This central sky- lit atrium also connects a range of programmed spaces distributed across two storeys, including rehab and training centres, administra- tive offices, and meeting rooms. As for the mass-timber Neil Campbell Rowing Centre, this fully accessible 5,700-square-foot facil- ity is a net-zero building featuring a large timber roof cantilevered on the building's exterior to provide shade for athletic activities and spectators. It's made mostly of glulam beams, NLT wall panels, and a CLT roof, with a tri- ple-glazed curtain wall perimeter. Christopher Séguin, manager, media and communications for the Niagara 2022 Canada Summer Games, says, "The facilities are the outcome of an enormous amount of planning, and of all the possible loca- tions we chose Brock University for CGP because it was centrally located and had the big space we needed." Dan Kronby, principal at MJMA Architecture & Design, says his firm first got involved in September of 2018 "when Emilio Raimondo, president at Raimondo + Associates Architects, brought the project to us. These were two very different buildings with very different scales, and the quadru- ple gym turned out to be the largest indoor space we've ever designed." Kronby adds that CGP's huge scale was broken down by the folded trian- gular canopy, which also overhangs the entrance plaza for shelter; and that the facility's origami triangular appearance was inspired by the shape of the site. Tyler Walker, senior associate at MJMA, says of the Neil Campbell Centre, "We worked towards achiev- ing a Living Future Institute's Net Zero certification and a CaGBC Zero Carbon Building goal with the mass timber, triple glazing, and many other components." He adds that the chal- lenge with net zero – apart from living up to the energy standards – involved design changes: "When a change was proposed we couldn't just incorporate it, we had to review it with our energy modellers to ensure our energy goals would remain intact." Ironically, while the design for CGP proceeded methodically, Matt Lamers, associate at MJMA, notes that "There were quite a few iterations of the much smaller Neil Campbell facility before the final design was established." Aquicon Construction Co. Ltd. broke ground on the project in December of 2019, with soil condi- tions requiring extensive excavation and backfill operations with Geogrid stabilization throughout the property. "And then the pandemic hit and mate- rial pricing, lead times, and product availability went crazy," says project manager Michael Salij. "We looked for alternatives to avoid delivery delays: switching plywood for gypsum, for example. And to mitigate costs and stay on schedule we continued to fab- ricate structural steel in two provinces during the four week government mandates site shut down." Salij credits the steel erectors "for doing an outstanding job creating the origami-style roof. The precast concrete walls of the structure were

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