GEC ARCHITECTURE LEADS THE WAY IN SPORTS PROJECT
Impressive portfolio of work includes bringing recreation facilities up to date
Andrew Tankard, partner at GEC Architecture, enjoyed a visit to New Orleans earlier this month where he represented the firm at the awards presentation at the 2018 Athletic Business Show.
He was there to receive the Facility of Merit Award for GEC’s design of The Shane Homes YMCA at Rocky Ridge, selected by a panel from more than 60 of the newest athletic, recreation and fitness facilities around the world.
During the presentation to Tankard it was noted that the judges were impressed with the building ’s distinctive singular roof form and structural system, “understated” interior design, and gracefulness in concept and execution.
Anyone who has been to the building will understand why they were impressed, particularly with the undulating, glued laminated timber roof.
It signifies the talents of young partners in the next generation of iconic buildings, following a number of GEC legacy projects in health and fitness facilities — most well known in the city being the roofline of the Scotiabank Saddledome. It was one of the sights that became synonymous with the city for visitors and television viewers of the 1988 Winter Olympics, as was another GEC standout, the Olympic Oval.
Since then, the 52-year-old Calgary firm has completed many other sports facilities, including the Remington YMCA, Markin McPhail Centre and Flames Community Arenas, and is currently working on a renovation and addition to the Repsol Sport Centre at Lindsay Park.
Built in 1983, it is in dire need of modernization as there have been so many changes to competitive sports since then, and GEC was commissioned to provide master planning and functional programming to help the centre decide on the best ways to bring it up to new standards.
The swimming pool is to be enlarged from eight lanes to 10 and, with the increased interest in synchronized diving, the width of its tank is also to be increased. These changes will mean altering the spectator seating areas and relocating locker-rooms to the south side of the building.
Another major planning assignment, which also includes a pool, is to assist Vecova Centre for Disability Services and Research. Housed today in buildings that date back to 1968 along 32nd Avenue N.W. on the north side of the University of Calgary, they need to be replaced.
The warm, saltwater swimming pool at the recreation centre is enjoyed by the centre’s clients as well as many of the general public in the area.
GEC’s Calgary and Edmonton offices are run as a single operation, using the strengths of both staffs to collaborate on projects that require special expertise.
Peter Osborne, a partner based in Edmonton, has a focus on educational facilities that includes the new Heritage Centre at the heart of the historic campus at St. Mary’s University in Calgary and several major projects in Edmonton. Among the prominent structures are Peter Lougheed Hall student residence at the University of Alberta and the NAIT Productivity and Innovation Centre. Currently, the office is restoring and modernizing the 1920s-era dental and pharmaceutical building at the entrance to the university’s campus.
Plans are to relocate the Edmonton office into West Block, a new complex GEC is designing as a 15-storey luxury residential, tower and adjacent three-storey office building for Beaverbrook Communities.
In Calgary, work continues at the check-in and baggage handling at the Calgary International Airport’s domestic terminal, and planning for the new Blue Line LRT. GEC is also part of the team that delivered the new BRT shelters and stations.
Alberta is where GEC has built an impressive portfolio of architecture but it is also winning projects in other provinces. A good example is the Okanagan College Health Science Centre currently under construction in Kelowna, B.C.
NOTES:
Women’s Executive Network has published its 2018 list of Canada’s Most Powerful Women, paying tribute to outstanding women across the country. A worthy winner in the Accenture Corporate Directors category is Calgary lawyer Patricia McLeod, a very involved member of this community who currently serves as board chair of the Calgary Co-op and the Calgary Film Centre, and also sits on the board of Alberta Innovates and the Beverage Containers Management Board.