Modern urban community center surrounded by tall residential buildings.

Brentwood Community Centre

Burnaby, British Columbia

An Urban Living Room

In a rapidly transforming district of Burnaby, we saw the opportunity for a people-focused urban heart. Partnering with Grosvenor Americas and the City of Burnaby, we are shaping a community anchor at the base of a new high-rise neighborhood—one that offers not just amenities, but a shared civic living room for residents and visitors alike.

Rather than defaulting to the familiar, low-slung model of a community centre, we reimagined the building as a vertical neighborhood of its own. Recreation, arts, and gathering spaces are stacked and interwoven, creating a rich sequence of indoor and outdoor rooms that overlap, connect, and reveal one another. A generous central stair threads these spaces together, drawing people from the plaza and lobby upward to terraces, activity floors, and a rooftop park.

The building is conceived as an open, welcoming presence in the city—an everyday destination that supports well-being, sparks chance encounters, and helps a new neighborhood find its sense of community.

Client: Grosvenor Americas
Size: 1,761,006 square feet
Completion Date: 2027

WHAT IT IS

A community centre that will establish a civic heart to an emerging dense urban neighbourhood.

Modern urban plaza with high-rise buildings and colorful mural.

Invitation

We gave particular care to the building’s face to the city, shaping a façade that feels both welcoming and unmistakable. Carefully placed openings offer glimpses into the life of the building—moments of movement, activity, and calm that hint at the range of experiences inside and invite passersby to step closer.

Custom metal panels, finished in a family of blue tones, bring depth and texture to the exterior. Together, they create a subtle, wave-like rhythm across the façade—an ever-shifting surface that gives the building presence, character, and a sense of motion.

Indoor basketball court with players practicing and modern lighting fixtures.

A jogging track around the upper level of the gymnasium maximizes active space.

Building systems and materials were selected to promote health and wellness, and to create an accessible and enjoyable space for users of all ages and abilities.

Modern community center lobby with people socializing and seeking information.

Celebration of Community

Through a thoughtful arrangement of spaces and a warm, natural palette, we shaped interiors that feel inviting and easy to inhabit—places where people are drawn to linger, connect, and create. Generous outdoor terraces on every level extend these experiences into the open air, reinforcing daily connection to light, landscape, and well-being.

Rooftop playground with slides, surrounded by modern high-rise buildings under a clear sky.

At the top of the building, the vertical journey culminates in a rooftop park—an unexpected clearing in the sky and a true urban oasis. Here, spaces for active play sit alongside quieter corners for pause and reflection, offering room for both energy and stillness above the city.