Brock’s Zone wins outstanding facilities award
March 9, 2022
By CCE
The design team included McCallumSather, WSP, TerraPlan and Aquicon Construction.
Photo courtesy McCallumSather.
The Zone, a recently renovated and expanded athletic centre on the Brock University campus in St. Catharines, Ont., has won the National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association’s (NIRSA’s) outstanding facilities award for the Canadian region.
Completed in late 2020, the $7.39-million project added 16,250 sf to the fitness centre. The design team included McCallumSather (prime architect), WSP (mechanical, electrical, civil, structural), TerraPlan (landscape architect) and Aquicon Construction (construction manager).
“We had so much fun working on The Zone, especially because we know how meaningful the project is to this campus,” says McCallumSather director of design and business development Drew Hauser. “It reflects the university’s athletics culture and the vision of its student union, which was very involved.”
The students’ vision included replacing the courtyard’s heavy awning and closed-off area with light-filled space. A long turf section accommodates walking, running, sprinting and workouts on different surfaces. Indoors, double-height mezzanines feature cardio areas, the campus colours and mascot; a multi-purpose space hosts total body resistance exercise (TRX), heavy bags, plyo boxes and hurdles; and a specialized spin studio incorporates a wood louvered wall system that allows light in when open and secludes sound during classes. There are also Olympic lift, strength and conditioning areas.
“The Zone’s expansion has made the facility an integral component of the student experience,” says Brock student union president Asad Bilal.
The award, part of a larger program that celebrates all aspects of collegiate recreation leadership and promotion, will be presented at a ceremony on Mar. 29 in Portland, Ore.
