Coronation Park Sports & Recreation Centre

Coronation Park Sports and Recreation Centre is an innovative hub that brings together high-performance sport and community recreation in one, world-class facility. Velodromes are highly technical spaces, with teams of cyclists racing at speeds up to 85km/h on steeply banked oval tracks. In contrast, community centres need to offer both formal and informal programming for users of all ages and abilities, while encouraging social connection throughout. The centre's design needed to carefully consider the needs of all users, while exploring the unique design potential in bringing together such distinct spaces in one building. Site & context Originally opened by Queen Elizabeth II in 1957, Edmonton’s Coronation Park is a fragmented park. The new Coronation Park Sports and Recreation Centre will help to bring coherence, acting both as a focal point for the park and a destination in its own right. The park is home to three significant architectural buildings with our project site centred between them. In an effort to minimize our project's presence, three large earth berms surround the building and optically reduce the height of the building, allowing the existing projects to maintain their standing in the park. The centre will share its entrance with the award-winning and much-loved Peter Hemingway Fitness and Leisure Centre, now accessed via a subterranean tunnel that connects the two buildings. Surrounding landscaping will also introduce a series of new pedestrian and cycle loops that tie into – and make sense of – the existing trail system. Elevated design To ensure a high level of connectivity between recreational facilities, we positioned the community spaces on the centre's ground floor – and elevated the cycle track a full storey above ground level. This unique design feature distinguishes the centre from the majority of indoor cycling facilities in the world. By placing the cycle track on the upper level, the traditionally isolated sport will be fully visible from the "social heart" of the building, piquing the interest and attention of the broader community. This design decision also created space for an indoor public plaza and urban basketball court on the ground floor. Here, people will be encouraged to gather, socialize, and play, even as a high-speed cycle race occurs just above their heads.