Location: Brampton, Ont.
Architect: ZAS Architects Inc.

OAA Design Excellence Awards Finalist

The Gore Meadows Community Ice Rink is a 1,459-m² open-air pavilion that is used as a community gathering space for activities and events year-round, including ice-skating. Composed of a structural wood lamella or cellular formed roof, it covers a column-free 3x3 ice rink in the winter months with removable dasher boards. In non-winter months it transforms to become an open space for community performances, farmer’s markets, and public events. An extension of the adjacent Gore Meadows Community Centre, the Ice Rink pavilion also includes public washrooms, changing facilities, and benches for changing skate and family viewing.

The ice rink canopy utilises a structural typology nostalgic of WWII era design not commonly seen in southwestern Ontario. The unique form comprises a series of similar, short structural wood members, interconnected in a particular manner similar to weaving. Forming a diamond or ‘lamella’ pattern perpetuated in biology, this provides the structure with the strength and ability to span long distances without requiring intermediate supports. This clear span permits the structure to canopy over a large gathering space to host a variety of events in any season, giving the rink a functional and aesthetically distinctive identity.

The outdoor ice rink is part of the Gore Meadows Community Centre & Library: a unique multi-programmed facility providing over 13,900 m² of amenities for the residents of a rapidly growing multicultural neighborhood. The Community Centre and Library provides much needed recreational and cultural services to the growing communities in the northeast corner Brampton. Development of these facilities is identified as a priority in the City of Brampton’s Parks, Culture, and Recreation Master Plan, and the rink further adds to this empowering community amenity and encourages social interaction.

The structure features glued-laminated timber comprising FSC-certified Alaskan Yellow Cedar—a Canadian species with superior strength and structural properties, as well as durability, maintenance-free properties, and desirable long-term weathering characteristics. The environmental profile of glulam is as good if not better than that of steel due to its reduced energy consumption, and its production method reduces the number of virgin trees being used for this project. The form of the structure with splayed edges at ground level prevent direct contact from sunlight, reducing excess warming of the ice pad and continued refrigeration energy usage.

Image Credit: Michael Muraz

Image Credit: Marek Zawadzki