The designers incorporated dynamic massing landscape design and …
The designers incorporated dynamic massing landscape design and graphic surface patterns to reference the movement that would take place in the facility for years to come, as well as the geological transformation of the landscape in the southern Ontario region.
Photo by Shai Gil
The aquatics center includes two internationally sanctioned 50-m…
The aquatics center includes two internationally sanctioned 50-metre, ten-lane swimming pools; a warm-up pool; a 5-metre deep diving tank with 3-, 5-, 7.5- and 10-metre platforms; and dryland training facilities with dive pits and trampolines. Motorized blinds in the training pool space allow privacy when needed for women’s or special-group training.
Photo by Shai Gil
Mobile bulkheads allow operators to adjust the dimensions of the…
Mobile bulkheads allow operators to adjust the dimensions of the practice and competition pools, for versatility in programming. The training pool includes a 25-square-meter movable floor area so depth can be customized.
Photo by Shai Gil
The unique dive towers played an important role in executing the…
The unique dive towers played an important role in executing the design concept for the facility.
The Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre, completed in 2014, will host swimming, diving, synchronized swimming, fencing, modern pentathlon, sitting volleyball and roller sports at this year’s events. Afterward, the facilities will accommodate national and international competitions, as well as house a community center and athletic facility for the University of Toronto Scarborough, the City of Toronto and the Canadian Sport Institue Ontario.
The $205 million center Centre made history in other ways. Not only was it the largest construction project for the Games, but it represented the largest single investment in Canadian amateur sport history. It was the first aquatics facility in the region meeting the latest international competition standards and was certified LEED Gold, achieved in part with 8,987 square meters of photo voltaic roof panels, with the rest being a green roof, as well as 100 geothermal wells to reduce the need for fossil fuels. Timer-limited shower heads and rainwater irrigation systems also contributed.
Rebecca Robledo is deputy editor of Pool & Spa News and Aquatics International. She is an award-winning trade journalist with more than 25 years experience reporting on and editing content for the pool, spa and aquatics industries. She specializes in technical, complex or detail-oriented subject matter with an emphasis in design and construction, as well as legal and regulatory issues. For this coverage and editing, she has received numerous awards, including four Jesse H. Neal Awards, considered by many to be the “Pulitzer Prize of Trade Journalism.”
