East Pool - François Dupuis Recration Centre

Ottawa, ON
Construction Cost: $14.4 million
Area / Square Feet: 51,150
Occupancy Date: May 2013

The Francois Dupuis Recreation Centre features a six-lane, 25-meter pool and leisure pool. Other ancillary functions accessible to the public include an exercise room, public meeting rooms, change rooms, a reception area, and office and staff work areas.

The facility features a generously scaled canopied entrance that is fully glazed, allowing visitors in the parking lot to see directly through the building into the natatorium itself. The “goldfish” bicycle rack by the entry is another playful allusion to water and swimming. The natatorium is glazed at its outside corners, allowing the community to look in and occupants to look out and connect back to the community. The use of translucent glass for the upper half of the space means that the building has a significant presence at nighttime, becoming a lantern in the community.

The facility is certified LEED Silver. Some of its sustainable design features include pool-water heat recovery, radiant in-floor heating, a robust building envelope and durable building material selection and detailing, water-saving landscape design and plumbing, controlled stormwater run-off, reduced heat impact from the roof and landscaping, and use of renewable, recycled and regionally produced materials.