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J UNE 2018 | 73 Seton Recreation Facility RENDERING COURTESY GIBBS GAGE ARCHITECTS Seton Recreation Facility by ROBIN BRUNET E normous: that's the word being used to describe the new Seton Recreation Facility in Calgary, refer- ring not only to the project's physical size, but its scope of amenities, chal- lenges in construction, and positive impact on the greater community. Situated in the heart of Seton, a new southeast Calgary urban centre, the 330,000-square-foot recreation facility, which is owned by the City of Calgary (with YMCA Calgary as the selected operator), provides a blend of leisure, sports, arts, cultural, and rec- reational opportunities as well as a competitive sport venue for Calgary's amateur sport community. The facility is the last of four new recreation facili- ties to be built in Calgary to respond to the city's growing need for amenities in underserved areas – a total invest- ment of $480 million. Each facility was designed to meet the specific needs of the community in which it is situated. Upon completion, the amenities at the Seton Recreation Facility will include a 50-metre, 10-lane competi- tion pool with competition dive tower and diving boards; a leisure pool with a surf-riding area; two multipurpose ice rinks; three gymnasiums; fitness rooms and equipment; a 200-metre running track; a 25,000-square-foot library, gallery space and a 250-seat theatre; plus a youth centre. In the future, it will be augmented by a high school, a regional park, and a station for a planned southeast LRT. Gibbs Gage Architects was hired in 2012 to develop a master plan for the entire 45-acre site. Including the LRT and other elements meant that the rec- reation complex would occupy a fairly constrained area (20.6 acres), on slop- ing terrain. In creating their design narrative, the architects decided the form of the facility should allude to "the rug- ged land swept and formed by the dominant Chinook winds that in turn shape the way Calgarians live." From above, the facility appears as a series of curved, intersecting, and offset wave forms – the very antithesis of the monolithic box structures characteriz- ing most facilities of this kind. David Wittman, partner at Gibbs Gage Architects, says, "We took advan- tage of the sloping terrain to organize people circulation and access points, and because the facility required 1,000 parking stalls the terrain helped us break up the mass by having the lot split into two terraced levels – with the lower level designed as a parking lot that would also be an area for pick- up hockey or basketball, thanks to the inclusion of painted lanes, nets, and the curved corners you find in a hockey rink." Three entrances were created: in the east (for those using the park- ing lot); northwest (in anticipation of people coming from the future LRT sta- tion); and southwest (facing the future high school). Wittman says the challenge of a facility this large was getting natural light as far into the structure as pos- sible without ruining function. "So we designed a 3D truss system that would sweep down each of the three main cir- culation zones, culminating in a twist as the zones merge together in the cen- tre of the facility where the library and fitness entrances are located." Creating open views throughout the interior was crucial to the user-friend- liness of the facility. "We designed it so that as you move inward along the circulation zones, there would always be interesting activity drawing you further in, whether it was the sight of people enjoying the standing surf machines, or the gymnastics area, or the dive tower," says Wittman. Fibre cement panels and corru- gated metal cladding were chosen to augment the complicated roof forms, "and these materials bleed into the LOCATION 19340 45th Street SE, Calgary, Alberta OWNER/DEVELOPER City of Calgary ARCHITECT Gibbs Gage Architects GENERAL CONTRACTOR Bird Construction STRUCTURAL CONSULTANT RJC Engineers MECHANICAL CONSULTANT Remedy Engineering ELECTRICAL CONSULTANT SMP Engineering CIVIL CONSULTANT Jubilee Engineering LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT Ground3 Landscape Architects LEED CONSULTANT Mission Green Buildings TOTAL SIZE 330,000 square feet TOTAL COST $193 million 2:40 PM

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