South Surrey Recreation Centre

Surrey, BC
Construction Cost: $6.6 million (Canadian)
Area / Square Feet: 36,000
Occupancy Date: December 2005

Situated in a park and backing into a forested area, the South Surrey Recreation Centre adjoins a small existing youth center that was incorporated into the project. The building?s exterior serves up a contemporary response to its suburban wooded location. However, sensitive building placement, massing and complementary roof forms root this expressive architectural gesture to the landscape.

Pushing the two gymnasiums to the facility?s rear helped those building masses disappear into the forest rather than allow them to dominate the streetscape. Instead, that role belongs to a two-story module faced with a combination of tilt-up concrete panels, cast-in-place concrete, colored concrete masonry units and sections of glass curtainwall.

Interior materials are simple and durable, utilizing concrete walls wherever possible. Tempering the robustness of the concrete is a softer color palette that relates to the nearby forest. Wood structures in the entry and key circulation corridors help introduce a quality of richness that contrasts with the concrete elements. In addition to the two full-size gyms, the program includes a smaller multipurpose gym whose garage doors open to the adjacent youth center, child-care facilities with outdoor play areas, several multipurpose rooms, and supporting locker-room and administrative areas.

As the first of several phases, the building is designed to accommodate a future swimming pool, fitness center and gymnasium additions — all of which will be accessed from the main entry.