-
Architects: hcma architecture + design
- Area: 10684 m²
- Year: 2024
-
Photographs:Nic Lehoux
Canada’s first completed aquatic centre to achieve Zero Carbon Building–Design Standard opens in New Westminster, BC. təməsew̓txʷ Aquatic and Community Centre has opened in New Westminster, British Columbia. Woven into the landscape with a dramatic unifying roof, the City’s largest capital project to date aims to be the heart and soul of the community and a place for all to connect.
Designed by hcma architecture + design, təməsew̓txʷ welcomes all ages and abilities, with a focus on community connections and wellness-based activities, alongside more traditional sporting and fitness pursuits. This all-electric facility is the first completed building to achieve the Canada Green Building Council’s (CAGBC) Zero Carbon Building-Design Standard. It is on-track to receive LEED Gold certification and uses the gravity-fed InBlue filtration system, reducing energy consumption, as well as the usage of chlorine, and the creation of associated harmful byproducts, resulting in improved air and water quality.
Situated on the edge of a residential neighbourhood north of the Fraser River and on Glenbrook Ravine’s former headwaters – a cultural and economic life source for Indigenous peoples for thousands of years – the centre prioritises reconciliation with the natural character of the landscape. The facility blends into the landscape and creates an iconic civic expression, with contrasting arrival experiences through its two plazas. The South Plaza, adjacent to the recreated ravine, is more ceremonial and natural, and the North, located near the gymnasia, more playful and urban. Both plazas connect to a spacious, double-height lobby featuring a heavy timber glulam roof and a sculptural steel spiral stair. A major public sculpture by Squamish Nation artist James Harry called Miyiwts (“Water’s Edge”) welcomes visitors and honors the Host Nations to whom these territories belong.
Inside, the east wing houses a multi-use leisure pool under a folded-plate mass timber and steel girder roof with lap lanes, spray elements, and a lazy river, benefitting from indirect natural daylight conducive to athletic performance. The fitness centre also offers varied views of the aquatics and outdoor spaces, enhancing the user experience. Extensive public engagement shaped the facility’s design, ensuring it meets the needs of diverse user groups, including urban Indigenous, Host Nations, multicultural communities, and accessibility committee. A Naming Advisory Panel made up of urban Indigenous and local First Nations gifted the name təməsew̓txʷ to the centre. Meaning “sea otter house” in hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓, the Down River language of local First Nations, the panel chose it because of the playfulness, joyfulness, and family-oriented nature of the sea otter, reflective of key themes that emerged during community engagement.
Inclusive design and physical accessibility are core aspects of the facility’s planning and detailing, evidenced by the generosity of circulation space; high contrast signage that includes braille and tactile directories; fully universal washrooms with adult change tables and lift devices; ramps and zero-entry conditions into the leisure and family hot pools; as well as a transfer ledge in the adult hot pool and moveable floor in the 50m pool. Change rooms offer options for all-genders as well as dedicated male and female spaces. The project will receive its Rick Hansen Foundation Accessibility Gold Certification in the coming weeks.
