Mass Timber, Passive House, & a Curving Roof: This Canadian Community Centre Is the Civic Building Other Cities Should Be Copying - Yanko Design

"The project replaces a well-loved but outgrown facility with a two-storey structure nearly double its size, measuring 5,000 square metres. The program is generous: a gymnasium, fitness centre, field house, multi-purpose rooms for seniors and youth, and a 74-space childcare facility. Underground parking is tucked beneath the building to protect the surrounding natural vegetation, letting Oak Park remain exactly that - a park."

"What makes the architecture worth paying attention to is the mass timber. Rather than limiting wood to the roof structure, as institutional buildings often do, the Marpole Community Centre uses a comprehensive mass timber frame - glulam columns and beams, a CLT floor system, and a long-span upper roof built from steel wide flange beams and a CLT deck. The result is a structure that reads as warm and considered, not engineered into submission. Exposed throughout the interior, the timber gives the building a human scale that concrete rarely allows."

"The signature move is the gently curving roof. The doubly curved cantilever form, supported by long-span steel beams, required close coordination between the design team and contractors - but the payoff is an exterior that feels unified without being monotonous, and an interior where the ceiling becomes the experience. Strategic glazing pulls the landscape in, connecting occupants to Oak Park's natural setting without sacrificing energy performance."

"On the sustainability front, the numbers are serious. The building targets Passive House and LEED Gold c"

The Marpole Community Centre is nearing completion in Oak Park, replacing an outgrown facility with a two-storey building nearly double the previous size at about 5,000 square metres. The program includes a gymnasium, fitness centre, field house, multi-purpose rooms for seniors and youth, and a 74-space childcare facility. Underground parking is placed beneath the building to preserve surrounding natural vegetation and keep Oak Park as a park. The architecture uses a comprehensive mass timber frame with glulam columns and beams, a CLT floor system, and a long-span upper roof using steel wide flange beams and a CLT deck. Exposed timber throughout the interior creates human scale. A gently curving doubly curved cantilever roof unifies the exterior and makes the ceiling the main interior experience, while strategic glazing connects occupants to the landscape. The project targets Passive House and LEED Gold.

Read at Yanko Design - Modern Industrial Design News