St-Hyacinthe Aquatic Centre / ACDF*

Jan 2012

Uploaded by Megan Jett — Filed under: Selected ,Sports Architecture , ACDF*, Canada, Quebec

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Architects: ACDF*
Location: Saint-Hyacinthe, Québec, Canada
Client: Ville de Saint-Hyacinthe
Consultant: Inneauve
Project Year: 2011
Project Area: 3600 sqm
Photographs: James Brittain, ACDF*

The expression of St. Hyacinthe’s Aquatic and Recreational Centre reflects a trend of modernity. The allegorical representation of a glacier appears as an imposing fragment on the natural landscape. Across the flat horizon, the floating triangular masses of the building seek to anchor themselves with the ground. This scene is not alien to the Monteregian area of Québec, with its landscape of ancient eroded mountains forming a backdrop for the rectilinear farmland patterns of the area.

The immediate urban insertion of this new facility within the wooded Boisé des Pins Park emphasizes the site’s recreational vocation. Indoor functions are enhanced in a varied environment with water activities at both competitive and recreational levels. There is an 8-lane, 25-metre competition basin with a 1-metre diving board and 3-metre platform. For recreational visitors, there is a community basin with water games, a 5-metre waterslide, therapeutic basin, and saunas. There is pool side seating for 450 visitors, extensive locker rooms for the competitive and recreational basins, and multipurpose rooms for community events and other recreational activities. The staff and administrative areas are positioned to overlook the basins whenever possible for safety, while the café and other public spaces encircle the basins to observe the performance.

Floor Plan

The projects architectural scheme forms a compact and efficient volume with an economical and easily constructible outer shell. The large openings at grade reinforce the seamless connection between the projects indoor spaces and the environment of the wooded park that it resides in. The solid, upper mass contains two stamped-out voids housing skylights which cast diffuse, natural light onto the basins below. These devices allow visitors to simultaneously engage sky and water, an experience often lost with interior pools, while poetically referencing the elements of glacier landscapes

The white masses floating over the basins shape the vast interior space creating two distinct environments. The stretched and pulled forms over the recreational basin created a playful, intimate space, while less exaggerated triangulated surfaces are reserved for the structured competition area.

Diagram

On opening, the project was well received with 50,000 visits in four weeks, while the population of the city of St. Hyacinthe’s rests at just 56,000 people.

: © James Brittain

: © ACDF*

: © James Brittain

: © James Brittain

: © James Brittain

: © James Brittain

: © James Brittain

: © James Brittain

: © James Brittain

: © James Brittain

: © James Brittain

: © James Brittain

: © James Brittain

: © James Brittain

: © James Brittain

: © James Brittain

: © James Brittain

: Floor Plan

: Plan

: Floor Plan

: Elevations

: Site Plan

: Diagram

* Location to be used only as a reference. It could indicate city/country but not exact address.

Cite:
Jett , Megan . "St-Hyacinthe Aquatic Centre / ACDF*" 27 Jan 2012. ArchDaily. Accessed 22 Feb 2012. <http://www.archdaily.com/202391>

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fischerrandom says:

That interior roof geometry is gorgeous. The slight cant of one of the exterior volumes, is almost too subtle, I don’t feel like it can be read in the project (or at least not from the photos given). still, very elegant project.

# January 28, 2012 at 09:50

5:57 PM Jan 27th

him + her

Architecture St-Hyacinthe Aquatic Centre / ACDF*: Architects: ACDF*
Location: Saint-Hyacinthe, Qué… http://t.co/8Yl0ROdL #architecture

5:58 PM Jan 27th

GR2TF

St-Hyacinthe Aquatic Centre / ACDF*: © James Brittain
Architects: ACDF*
Location: Saint-Hyacinthe, Québec, Canad… http://t.co/b4tr3as0

5:59 PM Jan 27th

ArchDaily

ArchDaily: St-Hyacinthe Aquatic Centre / ACDF* http://t.co/wJQ7HTuP #architecture http://t.co/GhGmR2J3

6:00 PM Jan 27th

André Amaral