Vellore Village Community Centre Fitness Expansion
The City of Vaughan retained +VG Architects in the Spring of 2010 to design the new 10,000 ft² fitness club attached to the multi-use recreation centre and high school in the Village of Vellore.
The facility is to serve as a separate fee fitness club complete with its own change rooms, saunas, and controlled access.
While the change rooms are for the fitness centre, they also have direct access to the pool. The fitness centre is housed primarily in a two-storey glazed area housing the conditioning and weight room. Other facilities include a cycle fit room and testing area. Materials and massing are designed to blend with the existing building, which was completed in 2006.
LOCATION
Vaughan, Ontario
CLIENT
City of Vaughan
COMPLETED
2013
SIZE
10,000 ft²
SERVICES
Expansion
Victoria Park Stadium Fieldhouse
Victoria Park Stadium is a highly regarded soccer specific stadium in the north-eastern part of the City.
The stadium has been in operation since the 1970’s and required significant upgrades to the fence enclosure, bleacher seating areas and scoreboard, as well as the provision of a Fieldhouse, housing a ticket kiosk, public washroom facilities, and change rooms for the players.
+VG was retained by the City of Brampton to design and administer construction of the various improvements. The project mandate from the client stressed ‘enclosure’ and ‘public gateway’ as key objectives in that events scheduled at the Stadium are often high profile and ticketed.
A material palette was developed for the project that was robust – precast concrete, galvanized steel, and brick. These materials were utilized in combination to create rhythm and interest while unifying the Stadium with the adjacent arena building to create a cohesive recreation complex.
Phase One involved the removal and replacement of the existing fence enclosure, bleacher stands, and scoreboard. The design of the new fence involves a combination of pigmented precast concrete panels and custom-designed galvanized steel channel fence panels that are both robust and opaque. An accent wall in brick was located at the vehicle gate into the Stadium.
Phase Two completes the stadium enclosure with the construction of a new Fieldhouse building along the eastern edge of the field, creating a new public entrance into the stadium. The public enter past the ticket kiosk through a “breezeway” that can be secured with sliding gates when the stadium is not in use. The Fieldhouse also provides public and universal washrooms; two team change rooms, a referees change room, and an alternate change room; and some minor service spaces.
LOCATION
Brampton, Ontario
CLIENT
City of Brampton
COMPLETED
2014
SIZE
3,750 ft²
SERVICES
New Fieldhouse & Stadium Improvements
Midland YMCA
The YMCA Midland Revitalization Project entailed design and contract administration services for the construction of an extensive set of renovation activities within the existing facility.
+VG Architects were initially retained to provide a facility Condition Assessment and Master Plan for the phased implementation of program and deferred maintenance upgrades.
Extensive investigations into building envelope failures were conducted, including destructive testing. Partial re-roofing and wall envelope repairs were performed to remediate the integrity of the vapour barrier, which had been compromised causing the high-humidity air to damage the exterior bonded masonry wall. Key program upgrades included:
- Renovate all Locker Facilities
- Add a new Family Change Room
- New Windows into the Pool & Gymnasium
- New Entrance & Stair at North Side
- Relocate and enlarge Conditioning Area
- Renovate Reception and Public Spaces
- New multi-purpose fitness studios
- Life Safety and HVAC upgrades
The project accomplished twin agendas of extending the usable lifespan of the building for another 25 years, and refreshing the space through a design, which focused on creating light, open, healthy, and inviting spaces.
LOCATION
Midland, Ontario
COMPLETED
2009
SIZE
22,000 ft²
SERVICES
Renovation
Royal Oaks Health & Wellness Centre
The Royal Oaks Health and Wellness Centre project involves the renovation of an existing two-storey ‘shell space’ (a former school gymnasium) to create two floors of medical and clinical office space including reception areas, exam rooms, associated physician offices, nursing stations, washroom facilities and the introduction of a new elevator.
The Centre was a collaborative effort by the stakeholders of the Listowel Wingham Health Alliance and the former public school site is immediately adjacent to the existing Wingham Hospital. The new clinic provides an ‘anchor tenant’ in the repurposed school building that is being developed as a health services campus for allied health services including occupational therapy, chiropractic services, and a pharmacy as well as rental space for local community groups.
LOCATION
Wingham, Ontario
COMPLETED
2017
SIZE
15,000 ft²
SERVICES
Renovation
AWARDS
2018 Award of Merit for Barrier-Free Design
Huron County Accessibility Advisory Committee
Napanee Area Community Health Centre
+VG Architects were retained by the Kingston Community Health Centre in 2012 to design the new Napanee Area Community Health Centre (NaCHC).
The two-storey building reinforces the urban street edge offering a colonnade and covered walkway for pedestrians and building users. Upon arrival from the west, the building establishes a “gateway” into the downtown pedestrian district.
The new centre will house a variety of programs including Primary Care, Diabetes Education, Community Support, Indigenous Health, Partners’ Space and associated storage and building service spaces. The Indigenous Health program includes a circular Healing Lodge that is used by the Elders for “healing” events, as well as shared by the community as a meeting/gathering space in conjunction with the larger multi-purpose Room.
An intimate entry courtyard on the south side of the building provides a landscaped area for the program’s Sweat Lodge. The Sweat Lodge structure will be constructed by the local Indigenous community upon completion of the building.
LOCATION
Napanee, Ontario
COMPLETED
2016
SIZE
15,000 ft²
SERVICES
New Construction
PHOTOGRAPHY
David Bell
Hospice Quinte
The pandemic environment created many unique challenges for this project. Under the leadership of +VG staff, exceptional collaboration, among the owner, project manager, stakeholder groups and the contractor, while maintaining safety protocols, was the key to minimizing these disruptions.
By communicating the challenges in a way which was easily understood by all project participants using virtual technologies, +VG staff were able to achieve consensus and introduce flexibility into solving issues like material shortages, and thereby maintain the project schedule.
Connected to the Natural Environment
The building siting is conceived as a simple, elegant rural structure in the landscape. The barn vernacular features two gable roofs clad in standing seam metal and wood clad exterior walls. The main entrance is featured centrally, creating an axis and narrative through the building. Administrative offices overlook arrivals and departures through large windows, and private gardens for each suite feature a patio and planting screens for use in any weather.
Open & Accessible
Familiar interior residential materials in wood and glass are used to convey the message that the building is not a hospital, but a community-centred home. A fireplace feature separates the reception and living space. The large open space allows for mobility devices, wheeled beds and gurneys.
Functionality, Livability & Work Flow
This new hospice features a central route that is efficient for staff and volunteers to provide multiple levels of care. Spaces along the route have been carefully organized to optimize work flow and minimize redundancies. Primary care is consolidated around the suites including the Nurse Station, Medication Room, Counselling Room and Utility Rooms.
Energy Efficient & Sustainable
HVAC is separated into zones to maximize energy efficiency. Increased air handling systems are incorporated to allow smudging within some areas to create a more inclusive environment.
LOCATION
Belleville, Ontario
COMPLETED
2021
SIZE
11,000 ft²
SERVICES
New Construction
Innisfree House
Innisfree House is envisioned to be a welcoming home for people in need of end of life care.
Design of a hospice begins with an understanding of residents’ needs as much as the needs of the staff providing the highest level of care. During this project, +VG demonstrated sensitivity to both the intangible and practical elements required to ensure the success of the project.
Innisfree House is a unique facility in Kitchener, created to provide an improved, alternative palliative care environment with a non-clinical, home-like atmosphere for bereaved families.
The key word for understanding the concept of a hospice is Care. Care of the dying, care for grieving families and friends, and care for the community of staff and volunteers who serve in the facility. The design for Innisfree House welcomes residents upon arrival, with a wide embracing glass entrance and overhead canopy offering immediate protection from the elements. This entrance passageway and adjacent foyer are significant to the hospice philosophy: Residents arrive through the front door and leave by the front door. Staff and volunteers gather for both.
LOCATION
Kitchener, Ontario
COMPLETED
2015
SIZE
16,200 ft²
SERVICES
New Construction
Kitchener Downtown Community Health Centre
Live. Grow. Be. These words express the Kitchener Downtown Community Health Centre’s commitment to a continuum of care model that is accessible, equitable, appropriate, holistic and transformative.
They also express the design approach for the new location in downtown Kitchener, part of the larger urban transformation from derelict factory district to a rejuvenated community destination.
A successful community partnership since opening its doors in 2000, the Kitchener Downtown Community Health Centre provides care for people in the downtown, and those from different ethno-cultural groups, with particular emphasis on those unable to access health services. Increased demand for services and programs resulted in the need for a larger facility to accommodate the needs of clients, their communities and staff.
Key Objectives include:
- Downtown location to connect with their client base, community services, cultural resources, amenities and public transit
- Improved accessibility
- Healthy visitor and workplace environment
- Barrier free, secure and confidential client experience
Parallel to the continuum of care model, the approach to planning and design of the new space is a health-centric one. Applied to urban form, architecture and interior design, the new KDCHC facility models the vision of care through building terms of restoration, rehabilitation, renewal, adaptive re-use and transformation.
LOCATION
Kitchener, Ontario
COMPLETED
2010
SIZE
10,000 ft²
SERVICES
New Construction
