East Lions Community Centre London, Ont.

Project Description:

The East Lions Community Centre and Park Master Plan represent a renewal of a mature park site. The approach deviates from the dominant North American trend of consolidation and regionalization of infrastructure — one based on the notion that “bigger is better” — by instead implementing a smaller-scale, second-generation reinvestment into an established and walkable community.

The community center contains all programs on a single level. The lobby is a true social nucleus, with exterior entries on three orientations that offer direct access to all programs: the aquatics center’s leisure and lap pools, a gymnasium, multipurpose and activity rooms, a reading lounge, a community kitchen, and art studios that include a large weaving studio for the East London Artisans. Replete with natural light from its park-facing clerestory glazing, the lobby is further animated by expansive views into the gym and natatorium. It is a neighborhood “living room” designed for lingering and socializing, with a massive community hearth fireplace as a symbolic and functional focus for gathering. The interior and exterior draw inspiration from the local craft guilds that utilize spaces within the building.

Working with the community, the design team looked to Anni Albers and her paradigmatic work exploring honest materials. Interiors feature the textures and patterning offered by materials such as wood, concrete and ceramic tile, with the integrity of their raw form highlighted as much as possible. The building’s mass is mitigated and enlivened by a syncopated pattern of vertical standing-seam metal panels in varying shades of gray. On the pool and gym elevations, double-height angled and perforated panels provide shade, reduce glare and contribute a textile-like surface that becomes diaphanous at night, revealing the life within.