The periphery of Brampton, Ontario, a rapidly growing satellite city in Greater Toronto?s 905 belt, can feel like the land of the giants: the arterial roads are exceptionally wide, even by suburban standards, and they are lined with fortress-like distribution centre and vast car assembly plants. Amidst the overwhelming industrial scale of this landscape, the City of Brampton?s new Williams Parkway Operations Centre is a structure built not only to human scale, but with expressive design elements that literally stick out in an otherwise inhospitable environment.
A linear two-storey glass atrium forms the transparent spine of the administrative wing, connecting every major space and encouraging interaction between office staff, outdoor workers and tradespeople in a common transitional zone, easing both access and security. Photo by Bob Gundu. The 190,000-sq.-ft complex?designed by RDHA and completed last fall after a two-phase construction period?declares its intent from a distance with a luminous, glass-walled boardroom cantilevered out over Williams Parkway. That space is the end of a 500-ft-long corridor?a light-filled, two-storey corridor that serves as the central spine linking the two elements of the centre.
Photo by Tom Arban.
At one end is a two-storey open-concept block for administrative offices. At the other are functional areas: a sign shop, a cavernous vehicle repair bay filled with soft natural light, and then facilities (change rooms, a cafeteria) for the ploug...