A new community center is nearing completion in Vancouver's Oak Park, and it has done something quite rare. It has combined mass timber construction with hyper-efficient Passive House engineering and a LEED Gold sustainability rating. The Marpole Community Centre, which was designed by Diamond Schmitt, proves that public buildings can be kind to the planet while also being beautiful.
The most striking feature is the exposed mass timber construction. The building uses large, engineered wood beams instead of relying solely on carbon-heavy steel or concrete. This is an interesting choice, because not only does it create a warmer, more inviting interior, but it helps reduce the building's overall embodied carbon by 41%. At the same time, it creates an approachable atmosphere that echoes the surrounding greenery.
"Our vision for the Marpole Community Centre was to create an inclusive and welcoming high-performance facility that embodied the City’s ambitious sustainability and accessibility targets while also supporting the community’s goals for how they wanted to use the building and grow their programming," said architect Caroline Inglis.
However, there’s more than wood holding up the Marpole. It's aimed at strict Passive House standards, which architecture firms look to when they want to achieve the gold standard for efficiency. The building is wrapped in a super-insulated, airtight shell that acts like a high-quality thermos. During the winter months, the heat stays inside, and when it gets hot during the summer, it is pushed out using very little energy. All systems are electric to support the City's climate goals, and complemented by passive design measures that include orientation, shading and daylight optimization to ease reliance on mechanical systems.
The building itself spans about 3,700 sq m (40,000 sq ft) and replaces an older facility from 1949 that the neighborhood has long outgrown, offering space for a gymnasium, a childcare center, a basketball court, community gathering spots, and various multipurpose rooms. The project also expands the community space outward to sports courts, gathering spaces and an ethnobotanical garden.
On the inside, the wood is exposed, which gives the interior a natural feel throughout – something that your typical public building often doesn't have. We have seen this kind of design philosophy with the Fyrtornet in Sweden and the TRÆ in Norway, where architects used timber to create a sense of warmth and escape from the usual concrete dominance.
By hitting the trifecta that is LEED Gold, Passive House, and mass timber, the new Marpole Community Centre is truly a marvelous technical feat that shows how public buildings meant for daily use can achieve high-performance environmental standards. The facility is expected to open its doors to the neighborhood later this year.
Source: Diamond Schmitt
