Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/331457
Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre by Yvan Marston renderings courtesy norr Ltd. Architects & engineers I n the summer of 2015, when athletes from 41 countries have left their mark on one of the world's largest interna- tional multi-sport events, the citizens of Toronto will be sorting through the legacy of five new construction projects left behind. And few groups seem more excited about this than the residents of Scarborough and university students at the University of Toronto Scarborough. "I've seen some people actually cry when they tour the construction site," explains Jason Coughlin, senior project manager at PCL Constructors. Coughlin has been regularly hosting tours throughout the nearly complete 360,000-square-foot Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre (TPASC), and has seen first-hand the emotions this long-awaited building is stirring in the community. "It's kind of nice to see how excited people are about this project," he adds. And there is much to be excited about. The centre is the largest sport new-build for the games and will host swim- ming, diving, synchronized swimming, fencing and portions of modern pentathlon, as well as sitting volleyball for the Parapan American Games. With an overall project cost of $205 million, the Pan Am Sports Centre represents the largest investment ever made in Canadian amateur sport history. It is being completed under the province's alternative financing and procurement model, which is managed by Infrastructure Ontario. Of the total cost stated, $158 million of that is the value of the design, build and finance part of the project. The remain- der is comprised of capital expenditures on sports and facili- ties infrastructure and project management. On the aquatic side, the facility boasts a 50-metre com- petition pool designed for minimum wave disruption to improve competition conditions; a 50-metre practice pool whose moveable f loor can adjust the depth for younger swimmers or be made f lush with the pool deck to allow wheelchair access; and a five-metre-deep dive pool. On the other side of the north-south corridor that forms the spine of the building is the centre's field house: a multi-use gymnasium with a 200-metre track that circles the perimeter mezzanine of the playing level. The main area sits one level below grade. Its space can be split into four full courts for bas- ketball or volleyball, or left open for the fencing, pentathlon and sitting volleyball competitions it will host in 2015. At the north end are the new offices and facilities of the Canadian Sport Institute Ontario (CSIO), one of seven sport institutes across the country dedicated to researching and developing training for Canada's high-performance athletes and coaches. Located on a former landfill in the city's east suburb, TPASC draws its design inspiration from drumlins, the glacial landforms common in southern Ontario, explains David Clusiau, NORR's senior principal of architectural design and the lead designer on the project. "The scale of the complex supported a landscape- inspired approach and drove the big sloping moves. It helps to express the various programme element s and serves to break down the mass of what would otherwise be an enormous build- ing," he explains. The central circulation space, which stretches from the south entrance, is clad in dark grey metal panelling. The upper forms that rise east and west of it are clad in golden buff panels to lighten the overall massing. When complete, TPASC is expected to Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre p.84-89Pan Am_Outlets.indd 85 14-06-03 10:25 AM