Surrey’s new Grandview Heights Aquatic Centre has received top honours for innovation and technical excellence. The Lieutenant Governor's Award for Engineering Excellence was presented to Fast + Epp for the structural design of the Grandview Heights Aquatic Centre in Surrey. The ambitious and daring project involved designing the roof to resemble a gently undulating and metaphorically appropriate wave form.
“This recognition highlights the efforts we place in having unique and innovative architectural design in our new civic facilities,” said Mayor Linda Hepner. “With the record numbers of users at Grandview Heights Aquatic Centre, the facility is already a winner with our residents and families. Now with this award, I am proud to say that our newest aquatic facility has achieved our goal of both form and function.”
The prestigious award was presented at the annual Awards for Engineering Excellence Gala which honours the innovation and technical excellence of Association of Consulting Engineering Companies British Columbia (ACEC-BC) member firms.
The $55-million Grandview Heights Aquatic Centre was constructed using a highly unusual structural system – a novel hanging timber catenary roof suspended between concrete buttresses and free-spanning 55 metres. Rather than employ conventional steel roof trusses, glue-laminated timber ‘cables’ were introduced, reducing the effective structural depth by 90 per cent. This served to reduce building volumes and energy costs, sequester carbon, and provide the community with an architecturally striking and functionally efficient recreational environment.
The Grandview Heights Aquatic Centre is equipped with a 10-lane, 50-metre pool; universal change rooms and a 9,000-square-foot fitness area. More information about the aquatic centre can be found here.
