May 28, 2010

BREGMAN + HAMANN ARCHITECTS

Buildings with roofs that become walls are not unique but they are uncommon. The result, however, is a unique space.

FEATURE | Steel

Building with roofs that become walls throws a curve at architects designing the Iroquois Sports Centre in Whitby

DAN O’REILLY

correspondent

The roof of the Iroquois Park Sports Centre in Whitby, Ont. is as unique as the athletes who will use it.

The Abilities Centre is a two-storey 23,225-square-metre (250,000-square-foot) barrier-free recreation, athletic and performing arts facility fully accessible to people with various challenges and disabilities.

Designed by Bregman + Hamann Architects and built by general contractor Bondfield Construction, the facility includes a large fieldhouse with a running track, full-size courts for wheelchair basketball, volleyball and movement education classes, as well as a fitness facility, therapy rooms and performing arts rooms.

But it was the roof that presented the greatest design challenges for the architects, structural consultant Halcrow Yolles, and steel detailer/fabricator/erector Walters Inc.

BREGMAN + HAMANN ARCHITECTS

The nine 50-metre-long, two-metre-deep architecturally exposed trusses spanning the field house are dramatically curved at one end and they become the wall on the south side, says B+H principal Mark Berest.

“Buildings with roofs that become walls are not unique, but they are uncommon,” says the architect, who describes the system as a “partial parabola.” The architects and engineers invested months into the design and collaborated with Walters on the final details of the shop drawings, says David Gray, senior associate with Halcrow Yolles.

Working points at the truss joints were adjusted to minimize the need for joint reinforcing and, where required, thicker plates or reinforcement plates were added, says Gray, outlining some of the detail challenges: “Designing the truss system took a lot more time than the actual erection.”

Installation of the trusses started in winter and by mid-May were almost complete except for some final welding, says Gray.

Comprised of a double top cord and single bottom chord, the trusses stand about 14 metres above ground at their highest point, says Gray.

Construction of the centre started in May 2010 and should be completed in early 2012, says Berest. The $25-million project is being financed by federal grants and private funds.

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