York Recreation Centre

Community needs

The York Recreation Centre facility was designed to serve the multigenerational and multicultural needs of three surrounding neighborhoods within the North York region of Toronto. Its program includes a large flexible aquatics center, an open and accessible gymnasium, a fitness center and a selection of multi-use rooms in addition to various change rooms and amenity spaces. Through a series of consultations, a running track, a pool-viewing gallery, a recording studio and a dance studio also were added.

Site advantages

The project capitalizes on its unique relationship to the Black Creek ravine through the maximization of views and connections to the outdoors, integrating generous glazing, large sliding-glass doors and an expansive programmable terrace and communal porch along this edge of the building. Bold accents of color are used throughout the building in the tile surfaces and exterior glazing, which pick up on the natural colors and rhythms of the surrounding ravine. The site also intersects with the new Eglinton Crosstown transit line, which once completed will offer not only a dramatic increase of mobility for residents of the community but also increased access to the building. Through this fortuitous confluence of natural and urban elements the project “makes a place out of no place,” providing a catalyst for social, urban and environmental change within a once vacant and cut-off part of the city, and offering a much needed new hub for its growing community.

Sustainable principles

The project is heavily guided by sustainablity principles. The siting of the building maximizes views and microclimatic conditions around the building, specifically at the entrance areas and at the pool area, which has been located facing north to mitigate glare. To reduce overall energy consumption, the building employs smart lighting systems, heat recovery on its pool dehumidification system, and a high-performance envelope, including a green roof and a large PV array.