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J UNE 2015 | 99 Branksome Hall Athletics And Wellness Centre PHOTOGRAPHY BY ALINA CORNEA ARCHITECTURAL PHOTOGRAPHY/COURTESY GILLAM GROUP INC. Branksome Hall Athletics And Wellness Centre by ANGELA ALTASS B ranksome Hall's new Athletics and Wellness Centre in Toronto is an invi- tation to wellness. "For generations to come, it will provide girls with facili- ties that will encourage them to weave physical activity, recreation and healthy food choices into their daily lives," says school principal Karen L. Jurjevich. T he new 6 8 , 0 0 0 - s qu a r e -f o ot Centre, situated in the residential South Rosedale Heritage Conservation District, opened in January 2015. It fea- tures a natural palette with limestone, tile and brick along with accents of glass, wood and metal finishings. The $34-million project, which redeveloped a site previously occupied by a dining hall and student boarding facilities, is part of the school campus set within a 13-acre property that includes wooded ravine edges and open green spaces. The building is contemporary in design but still fits in well with the school's existing heritage architecture. "Masonry, glass and wood are the pri- mary materials used to connect to the existing century-old heritage brick buildings on the school's east and west campuses," says David Miller, partner, MacLennan Jaunkalns Miller Architects. A series of internal walkways with interconnected ground and second f loors "encourages students to pass by and see athletics; inspiring involve- ment in the athletic community," adds Olga Pushkar, project design architect, MacLennan Jaunkalns Miller Architects. The new facility includes a cafete- ria, gymnasium, two swimming pools, dance studio, yoga studio, dryland row- ing centre, high-performance fitness centre and offices. A bridge over Mount Pleasant Road was also reclad with new glazing as part of the project. "The project is cast-in-place con- crete from the foundations to the fitness mezzanine to the second floor, with structural steel framing for the gymnasium and dance studio roofs," says Marcus Gillam, president and CEO, Gillam Group Inc. The building boasts a number of sustainable elements throughout. "The Centre includes a green roof and ter- race, interior and exterior curtain wall, skylights that maximize exterior views and natural light, interior and exterior brick, glass balustrades, wood wall and ceiling panels, stone tile and porcelain tile flooring," says Gillam. In addition, glazing frit patterns exceed t he Toronto Development Guidelines for bird friendly glazing and the building has high-efficiency lighting. Stormwater is also collected from the roof and used for irrigation. The Athletics and Wellness Centre serves as a campus-wide meeting and gathering space with places to watch sport and provides informal studying spaces. First time visitors are often awestruck by the beauty of the Centre, says Julia Drake, executive director of communications and marketing, Branksome Hall. "One of the challenges of the project was creating a large building in a tight space," says Drake. "Another challenge was that we were building over two of the worst winters in recent memory with ice storms and extreme cold, which made it more difficult for our construc- tion crew. Our architects and the con- struction team were incredibly creative in meeting these challenges." Controlling construction noise, dust and vibration to ensure the school's normal environment was preser ved as best as possible was a challenge, says Gillam. "We were building on a very con- strained site under constant scrutiny by neighbours," adds Gillam. "There was the challenge of construction logis- tics to balance the need for productiv- ity with the need to ensure business as usual for the client, with particular attention to the school's morning drop off and afternoon pick up times. We were challenged with controlling con- struction and pedestrian traffic, not only to reduce traffic on campus but also to separate the two, resulting in a safe working environment." The ground to second floor height was a design constraint as the second floor height matched the existing pedes- trian bridge f loor and the top of the ground floor matched the existing side- walk elevation, says Mike Feindel, asso- ciate, Blackwell Structural Engineers. "The depth of the second floor struc- ture had to be minimized to allow for an appropriate ground floor ceiling height," says Feindel. "The project was quite exciting and challenging to work on. The consultant team was very strong and a pleasure to work with." The west bridge support remained and had to be reinforced and designed to current structural design loads, says Feindel. "The most significant being the impact from a truck on the bridge pier," he adds. "Micropiles and grade beams were used to resist the lateral forces subjected on the structure." A viewing gallery overlooks the two saltwater swimming pools, one of which is a training/lap pool and the other a shallow teaching pool. The swimming pool area was con- structed one-storey underground with the ceiling of the pool being at the sec- ond f loor level. "Concrete retaining walls and columns were used to resist the soil pressures and long span con- crete beams were used to support the second f loor deck," says Feindel. "No intermediate columns were required within the pool deck space. The ground floor east entrance and the second level were suspended above the pool deck. The ground floor slab was hung off the ground floor and second floor concrete walls to enable the concrete beams at the ground floor level to be as small as possible. There is a large cantilever at the south west entrance of the building and a thick transfer slab was used to support the floor and roof above." The new building is stunning, says Drake: "It exceeds our expectations in many ways. It is used by enthusi- astic students, and other members of the Branksome Hall community, on a daily basis." A LOCATION 6 Elm Avenue, Toronto, Ontario OWNER Branksome Hall ARCHITECT MacLennan Jaunkalns Miller Architects HERITAGE ARCHITECT ERA Architects Inc. PROJECT MANAGER/ CONSTRUCTION MANAGER Gillam Group Inc. STRUCTURAL CONSULTANT Blackwell Structural Engineers MECHANICAL/ ELECTRICAL CONSULTANT Smith + Andersen CIVIL CONSULTANT MGM Consulting LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT PMA Landscape Architects Ltd. TOTAL AREA 68,000 square feet TOTAL COST $34 million

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