Hillcrest Olympic Curling Centre

[mr.x]

Hillcrest Curling Venue

Location: Hillcrest/Nat Bailey Stadium Park

Distance from Vancouver Olympic Village: 4 km

Venue Capacity: 6,250 seats

Elevation: 74 m

Completion: Fall 2008

Venue Description

Hillcrest/Nat Bailey Stadium Park is located in a lively Vancouver community that includes the beautiful Queen Elizabeth Park and views of the North Shore mountains. This park is well served by public transportation.

Construction Update

The environmental assessment has been completed and the Olympic Mode design is nearing final completion. A construction manager has been retained for the project. Parking lot construction, site utility installations and bulk excavation are underway. Completion of the building shell is planned for 2007. The entire project will be completed in 2008.

Post-Games Use

After the 2010 Winter Games, the curling venue will become a multi-purpose community recreation centre that will include an ice hockey rink, gymnasium, library and six to eight sheets of curling ice. Attached to, and being constructed with the new curling venue/community centre, is a new aquatic centre with a 50-metre pool and leisure pool to be managed by the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation

Curling Venue

- Partial second floor slab between the library and community centre has formed, and all rebar, electrical and mechanical systems are being placed prior to pouring the concrete.

- Concrete roof slabs over the curling club lounge and the echanical/electrical rooms will be poured next.

- The second structural steel truss that supports the roof over the Community Arena was erected on January 16th. The joists connecting the two main trusses and completing that roof are being installed now.

- Structural steel has been completed for the second floor gymnasium roof including all joists.

- Structural roof decking is complete over the curling rink, and will continue over the Arena and Gymnasium next.

- Masonry walls internally and along the east side are progressing well.

- Most of the refrigeration plant is in-place.

- Preparation work on the curling club rink slab is expected to start within the next two weeks.

Aquatic Facility

- Installation of the second floor concrete slab between the change room and fitness studio is complete, and formwork has started for the walls at that level.

- Formwork for the remainder of the pool decks is in-place.

- The glulam beams that will support the Aquatic area roof are either onsite or on their way to site from the fabricator, and the wood for the rest of the roof structure is being painted.

- Hundreds of underground pipes required for the hot pool and leisure pool are being installed to allow for all the water jets and fun features in the design.

Post Olympic Facility Use

Post Olympics the curling venue will convert to the new Riley Park Community Centre, library, Vancouver Curling Club and public ice rink. To make the most of construction efficiencies, the new Percy Norman Pool will be built at the same time. An indoor concourse will connect the facilities with the new pool featuring a leisure tank, 50 meter lap pool and an outdoor aquatic element.

Project Cost and Funding

- Curling Venue - $40.25 million (VANOC)

- Riley Park Complex (conversion) - $12.35 million (Park Board)

- Percy Norman Aquatic Centre - $31.86 (Park Board)

Size

- Hillcrest Curling Venue - 100,000 sq. ft. (9290 sq. meters)

- Percy Norman Aquatic Centre - 60,000 sq. ft. (5574 sq. meters)

Seats

Hillcrest Curling Venue - 6,000

Architect

Hughes Condon Marler Architects

Contractor

Stuart Olson Contractors

Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED)

To be built to LEED* Gold Standard. Heat recovered from ice-making operations will be used to heat the new Percy Norman Aquatic Centre. In addition, groundwater will be recovered for use in the dual flush toilets at the new complex.

* LEED – a voluntary, consensus-based national standard for developing high performance, sustainable buildings.

Expected Completion

Fall 2008

Test Events Prior to 2010 Winter Games

TBA

[mr.x]

Pictures taken today:

[mr.x]

5 days ago:

[mr.x]

taken by zivan56:

[Rafa]

Bit disappointing that they cover up the great architectural aspects of this building. I don't think enough is done to emphasize the steel, timber and glass aspects. Not meant to be a WOW venue but certainly had great potential given the materials used and the structure as a whole to be a bit better. All they seem to have ended up with (IMO) is a building looking more like some modern day. factory.

[mr.x]

^ the Winter Games indoor venues aren't really known for architecture, though i'll have to say that Vancouver's are probably the best yet.

This was the curling venue at Salt Lake....pretty drab:

Same goes for Salt Lake's secondary ice hockey facility:

This facility will cost $82-million to build, and will be a very well used community centre replacing the existing one right across the street:

Post Olympics the curling venue will convert to the new Riley Park Community Centre, library, Vancouver Curling Club and public ice rink. To make the most of construction efficiencies, the new Percy Norman Pool will be built at the same time. An indoor concourse will connect the facilities with the new pool featuring a leisure tank, 50 meter lap pool and an outdoor aquatic element.

There is an incredible community legacy to this venue.

[cfm Jeremie]

^ the Winter Games indoor venues aren't really known for architecture, though i'll have to say that Vancouver's are probably the best yet.

Ever seen Lillehammer, Nagano or Torino venues?

[Rafa]

Architecture is drab due to poor design decisions. The exposed structure has some great elements. Covering it in black and making it look like a large factory is a design fault. With a few changes within the current budget the design could have been much better.

[mr.x]

Ever seen Lillehammer, Nagano or Torino venues?

Well, I guess I'm thinking more about size then, which is off-topic to architecture.....some of the indoor facilities are by far the largest for the Winter Games. There has never been a 6,000 seat curling facility, at the previous Games the venues are about half that. Then we've got a 16,000-seat figure skating venue, albeit very old though it does have its historic charm. And we also have a 19,000 seat primary hockey facility.

In terms of architecture, the best in Vancouver would be the new speed skating oval and its incorporation of wood in much of the design.

[mr.x]

Architecture is drab due to poor design decisions. The exposed structure has some great elements. Covering it in black and making it look like a large factory is a design fault. With a few changes within the current budget the design could have been much better.

Actually, the architectural design for the curling venue is very fitting to Vancouverism - our style of architecture, that is most commonly referred to our condo buildings. As well, this was designed by a local architect and his design flair is also reflected in his other designs in the city:

A change in the current budget? VANOC nearly had to move the venue elsewhere because they couldn't find the finances to build this at the site. Had the city not stepped in, you would've seen an even more simpler.

You also have to remember that this is a community centre, in a residential area.....

[Kenadian]

I do have to agree. Vancouver's facilities are not being planned for their beauty. Of course, many of them are built, but those under construction are aiming for positive legacies from a technical in approach, but not so much the artistic. The Olympic Village is a positive development, mostly for its high green standard and for bringing life into a derelict and underdeveloped city neighbourhood. But Vancouver architecture has never been truly bold. I think architects are afraid to take away any attention from the natural setting. So while it is all attractive, it is generally safe.

[mr.x]

^ precisely. And here are the hockey, figure skating, and short track practice facilities being built for the 2010 Games. They will also have a significant community purpose after the Games, will all be very well used.

Note that like the Hillcrest centre, these practice venues have also been designed by local architectural firms.

Killarney Skating Rink

$2.5 million (VANOC)

$12.2 million estimated (Park Board)

- under construction, to be completed April 2009

Trout Lake Skating Rink

$2.5 million (VANOC)

$13.5 million (Park Board)

- under construction, to be completed October 2008

[Rafa]

Actually, the architectural design for the curling venue is very fitting to Vancouverism - our style of architecture, that is most commonly referred to our condo buildings. As well, this was designed by a local architect and his design flair is also reflected in his other designs in the city:

A change in the current budget? VANOC nearly had to move the venue elsewhere because they couldn't find the finances to build this at the site. Had the city not stepped in, you would've seen an even more simpler.

You also have to remember that this is a community centre, in a residential area.....

i like these designs. but this is not what he has presented here.

[Ruling Czar]

Well, if the facilities are not being built for their beauty then why build them at all? Why do you think people visit Venice or Rome or Athens? A whole lot of it has to do with the architecture that expresses the dynamism of the cultures that spawned such architecture. It's why people visit New YorK , Toronto, Sydney, Dubai. I think vancouver's legacy will suffer because the buildings, in less than 10 years after the games, will simply fall out of style curbing the city's potential to be a hotbet of great architectural expression for the future. Only great fashion lasts.

[olympian]

for Vancouver, functionality and substance over style.

[NY20??]

Well, if the facilities are not being built for their beauty then why build them at all?

Are you serious?

[Kenadian]

Well, if the facilities are not being built for their beauty then why build them at all? Why do you think people visit Venice or Rome or Athens? A whole lot of it has to do with the architecture that expresses the dynamism of the cultures that spawned such architecture. It's why people visit New YorK , Toronto, Sydney, Dubai. I think vancouver's legacy will suffer because the buildings, in less than 10 years after the games, will simply fall out of style curbing the city's potential to be a hotbet of great architectural expression for the future. Only great fashion lasts.

The majority of tourists come to Vancouver for the natural surroundings of mountains and ocean. Venice, Rome, and Athens have centuries of history and culture - and the Grand Canal, the Colosseum, the Acropolis. I doubt that people visit cities to see their sport and recreation facilities, unless they are a fan of a particular sport and are seeking one of its icons...like a Fenway or a Maracana. They seek out what is unique to the region. I see tourists here getting photos taken in front of the totem poles, the steam clock, and along the waterfront facing the mountains. While certainly not a Sleeping Beauty's Castle or Epcot, those mountains were standing there longer than the Pyramids and will still be there when the great cities of the Earth are reduced to rubble.

[mr.x]

Well, if the facilities are not being built for their beauty then why build them at all? Why do you think people visit Venice or Rome or Athens? A whole lot of it has to do with the architecture that expresses the dynamism of the cultures that spawned such architecture. It's why people visit New YorK , Toronto, Sydney, Dubai. I think vancouver's legacy will suffer because the buildings, in less than 10 years after the games, will simply fall out of style curbing the city's potential to be a hotbet of great architectural expression for the future. Only great fashion lasts.

You need to remember that this venue is already costing $82-million and it nearly had to be moved elsewhere when money was short.....and unlike previous curling venues, there will be a lot of conversion and post-Games construction to convert this venue into community use (aquatic centre, gymnasium, fitness centre, public library, curling centre, ice hockey rink, daycare spaces, community event spaces).

This facility is being designed as a community centre, not an Olympic venue. It has post-Games legacy in mind, and it's also located in a residential neighbourhood and community centre/park board architecture in Vancouver tends to blend in with its natural surroundings. The practical use of our facilities is much more important than how they look, of course with limits.

[Rafa]

Just to make it clear. I do not want Calatrava like over spending. My main issue is with the design given the current budget. In no way should the post-Games legacy be affected but it could be improved. The aquatic facility reminds me of the London (not UK) Aquatic Centre, but then it all goes a bit boring with a large factory next to it. I also don't like when timber aspects are hidden as if its a bad thing.

Really like the Trout Skating rink, how on earth are they paying so little?

[mr.x]

Just to make it clear. I do not want Calatrava like over spending. My main issue is with the design given the current budget. In no way should the post-Games legacy be affected but it could be improved. The aquatic facility reminds me of the London (not UK) Aquatic Centre, but then it all goes a bit boring with a large factory next to it. I also don't like when timber aspects are hidden as if its a bad thing.

Really like the Trout Skating rink, how on earth are they paying so little?

You need to be familiar with the high construction costs in this city....a few million doesn't buy much these days.

I've passed by the Trout Lake facility, and it's tiny....that's why it's costing so little.

[Ruling Czar]

Thank you for all for reminding me why Canadians are not taken seriously in the arts.......for a moment, I thought I was forgetting.

[mr.x]

Thank you for all for reminding me why Canadians are not taken seriously in the arts.......for a moment, I thought I was forgetting.

If you want to fetch a few more million for the curling centre, be my guest.

We're building a new $300-million art gallery in downtown...there will be an international architectural design competition for it.

[Kenadian]

Vancouver's Olympic planners are considering three things here. The legacy of the 1976 Olympics where a landmark architectural facility because a massive money sink hole. The legacy of the 1988 Olympics where pragmatic and careful planning led to few white elephants but a future legacy of athletic excellence. And the current wave of sustainable and green architecture. It may not look like the Happiest Place on Earth, but the beauty of the design is in the substance.

[Ruling Czar]

Um Ok Kendegra. Lets disect your contribution to the discussion shall we? Montreal 1976 does not have to be replicated at Vancouver 2010. I don't know why the rest of the world left Canada behind but in actuality?........striking modern architecture need not be as expensive as the Montreal Olympic Stadium. whipspers *and by the way?........Montreal's Olympic stadium wasn't that striking either* Next........

Would you be soooooo kind as to outline exactly what is this " future legacy of athletic excellence" you are referring to?

I mean did you even watch the summer olympics? Those games were held in Beijing, the capital of China......you know...that giant country in the east. Well, given that Canada has a population of thirty million people, or thereabout, 18 medals is not the kind of olympic legacy other countries are proud about. The Winter Olympics are no better.....if Calgary really did leave a future legacy for athletic excellence, Canada by 2002, should be in the top three medal winning countries. Don't you think?

UM..........green architecture is NEVER ugly so Canada is, for the umpteenth time, lost at trying to do something.

These are unfortunate facts but facts none the less. ta, ta!

[olympian]

someone needs to get a life.