One of the newest additions to Exhibition Place is the Enercare Centre. Completed in 1997 and designed in joint venture by Zeidler Partnership Architects and Dunlop Farrow Inc., the centre provides 1,086,000 square feet of exhibition space, including a 518,000 square feet Exhibit Hall (which can be subdivided into four separate halls), a 405,000 square feet swing space that connects the Exhibit Hall to the existing Coliseum and industry buildings, and an underground link connecting the Exhibit Hall to the Automotive Building. The project also includes an underground parking level for 1,294 cars and surface parking for 166 vehicles. A 1,400-foot long Grand Concourse joins the activity of the Centre’s function with those on the Princes Boulevard.

While large in scale and contemporary in nature, the centre is sensitive to the history of Exhibition Place. A third of its main façade, that closest to the Princes’ Gates, matches the elevation of the historic 1929 Automotive Building, displaying similar massing, material and length. The remaining 900 feet take the form of a slight curve, with four glass towers punctuating its length.

In 1999 the Centre received an OAA Award of Excellence, in recognition to the craft in designing so large a space and still retaining a sense of scale and detail. In particular, the jury praised the public façade for its inventive use of lanterns to measure space.

 

Interior of Enercare Centre. Photo courtesy of Zeidler Partnership Architects