Orillia Recreation Centre

The Orillia Recreation Centre is a re-inhabitation and reclamation of an industrial brownfield site to create a new recreational and social heart. The project reimagines Orillia’s storied industrial past and references both the site’s previous use as a foundry and the city’s legacy of brick civic buildings. It is integrated into a 26-acre park and is connected to the city’s trail system. 

The aquatic center features an eight-lane, 25-meter pool for instructional, training and competition use, and warm-water therapy and leisure basins. The gymnasium has two FIBA/FIVB courts with a moveable acoustic dividing wall, separating the gym for multiple program use. The facility also features a fitness center, multipurpose spaces, a community art gallery and an indoor track, with a connective tissue of civic spaces. Primary program spaces are illuminated by clerestories and skylights, generating “perfect light” for athletic and performance activities, and light that diffuses throughout the building interior. 

Due to extensive contamination from foundry waste and gas residue from solvents in the groundwater, the site was previously deemed uninhabitable. Careful work with the Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks helped in organizing the site uses, and significant capping and venting methodologies were deployed to transform a brownfield site into a safe civic facility.

LEAD ARCHITECT

MJMA Architecture & Design 

COMPONENTS

• Eight-lane, 25-meter lap pool 

• Warm-water therapy pool 

• Leisure pool

SUPPLIERS