The reflective upper block faces downtown Brantford. The entrance opens to an outdoor plaza, atop the roof of the lower block.
PROJECT Laurier Brantford YMCA, Brantford, Ontario
ARCHITECT CannonDesign
TEXT Laura Lind
PHOTOS Adrien Williams
The Laurier Brantford YMCA is a minimal, austere, rectilinear building. With its mirrored façade and a truss-supported cantilever extension on its eastern flank, it sits on the street with all the permanence of a mirage. At first glance, its modernity is a blunt counterpoint to the historic core of downtown Brantford.
Completed in December 2018, the 11,318-square-metre facility by architects CannonDesign consists of dual bars, each almost a block in length, stacked atop one another. The massing is apropos, since the co-owned recreational centre is designed to bring together two segments of Brantford?s population: YMCA members and Wilfred Laurier University students. Concurrently, the building serves as a conduit between the elevated commercial Colborne Street, and the Grand River basin, a sharp 10.6-metre drop to the south. The lower block faces Water Street, with a bridge connecting to an existing parkade. The area south of the centre includes a hockey arena, park and casino.
The lower volume, entered from Water Street, is embedded deep into the side of the slope. Subterranean, rendered in architectural concrete block, and clad in metal panels with limited fenestration, it houses 90 percent of the rec center?s programmed space. Further,...