Announcements January 22, 2021

A.W.B. Alumni Centre for Athletics and Student Life is an IIDA 2020 Global Excellence Awards Category Finalist

The International Interior Design Association (IIDA) has honoured the Appleby College A.W.B. Alumni Centre for Athletics and Student Life as a category (education) finalist in the IIDA 2020 Global Excellence Awards.

IIDA is a commercial interior design association advocating for the advancement in education, design excellence, legislation, leadership, accreditation, and community outreach to increase the value and understanding of interior design as a profession that enhances business value and positively impacts the health and wellbeing of people’s lives every day.

The A.W.B Alumni Centre for Athletics and Student Life is a multi-purpose facility designed as a new threshold to the Appleby College campus. This project strengthens the existing axis of movement creating a natural conduit between the main academic quadrangle and playing fields. This threshold is expressed as a dramatic Campus Room: a dynamic new gathering space that functions in conjunction with a new single-gym and assembly hall.

A palette of regionally sourced natural materials including iron spot brick, copper and oak help the building blend with its striking natural setting.

The Appleby College campus is located on the shore of Lake Ontario and nestled amongst the single-family homes in Oakville, a city 40 kilometres west of Toronto. Its spacious grounds are buffered by playing fields surrounding a ring-road and a central academic quadrangle. The thoughtful integration of a large athletic facility on the campus that enhances the existing axis of movement through campus was of prime importance to the College.

Fitness loft overlooking the sunken double gymnasia.

The Program

The facility features large programmatic blocks including a double-gymnasium, a single gymnasium, weight and cardio rooms, squash courts, and academic spaces. Opaque programs such as the gyms, require control of sunlight which can result in glare from direct light, or, alternatively, large impermeable facades. Mitigating both these issues would result in a better experience of the building both inside and out.

Wood-lined campus room providing a new gathering space and entry point.

Integration

Designed as a new threshold to the campus, the project strengthens the existing axis of movement creating a natural conduit between the main academic quadrangle and playing fields. This threshold is expressed as a dramatic Campus Room: a dynamic new gathering space that functions in conjunction with the single-gym and assembly hall.

Scale, Light, Views, and Transparency

To minimize the overall massing impact, the various opaque functions, including squash courts, change rooms, storage and the double-gymnasium, have been placed below grade. This freed the ground-plane for program that privileged light and views, including the Campus Room, workout rooms and academic spaces. The added result are more varied and porous façades.

Situating the gymnasium below grade required innovative solutions for illumination and connection. At-grade spaces, such as the weight room, flank the gym with expansive windows allowing light to filter deeper into the building. The main circulation stair doubles as a programmed light-well with views to an array of program spaces. Frosted skylights provide additional diffuse light to the gym and surrounding program. These strategies are used throughout the building placing health and wellness on display in a new way.

Sustainability and Materiality

Guided by principles of sustainability and wellness, the building integrates water, energy and resource management strategies and preserves views and naturalized zones around the building. A palette of regionally sourced natural materials is used including iron spot brick, copper and oak – further helping the building blend with its striking natural setting along Lake Ontario.

A.W.B. Alumni Centre for Athletics and Student Life is an IIDA 2020 Global Excellence Awards Category Finalist

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