The $30 million Edmonds Pool and Community Centre remains on schedule and target according to the project’s architects.
The $30 million Edmonds Pool and Community Centre remains on schedule and target according to the project's architects.
“Everything is going really well and the community centre remains on track to be open late in 2012,” said Mark Hentze, partner at CEI Architecture.
“It’s going to add a very fun and welcoming recreational facility for families in the City of Burnaby.”
The aquatics centre features a six-lane, 25-metre pool, a leisure pool, warm swim and therapy lanes, a lazy river with two channels and double waterslides.
The community centre also features a 12,000-square-foot twin gymnasium, as well as multi-purpose rooms, child minding spaces, spaces for seniors and youth, art rooms, a fitness studio, a fitness centre and a central atrium social space that becomes a community living room.
Edmonds Pool and Community Centre has been designed with the needs of the culturally diverse community in mind.
For example, the pool change rooms will adopt the current trend towards universal/family change spaces, but still offer gender-specific spaces with a high degree of privacy.
“It’s really a very interesting place,” said Hentze.
“It’s one of the most diverse multi-cultural communities we’ve ever worked in. Some of the people, who will use the centre, have come to Canada from countries in which the notion of a public community and aquatics centre is an entirely new concept,” he explained.
“We received a lot of input from design workshops and a large design charrette, in which many community groups participated directly and they really contributed to the program and design. We listened to what people felt would strengthen the community and responded to that.”
The building sits between Richmond Park to the north and the urban edge of Edmonds Street to the south.
It is aimed at remaining as energy conscious as possible and is currently pursuing LEED Silver certification.
Hentze and CEI were also the architects on the recently completed Tommy Douglas Library just down the road.
That project, which opened in November 2009, was also developed to meet LEED standards.
Hentze said residents can expect similar success with the Edmonds Pool and Community Centre.
JOC NEWS SERVICE
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