PROJECT Clayton Community Centre, Surrey, British Columbia
ARCHITECT hcma Architecture + Design
TEXT Jim Sutherland
PHOTOS doublespace photography, unless otherwise noted
Operable roof lanterns allow fresh air to regularly sweep through the building, helping to keep it naturally ventilated and at a comfortable temperature year-round. Photo by Andrew Doran
It?s 8:30 in the morning on Tuesday, November 30, and outside the Clayton Community Centre in Surrey, BC, the third atmospheric river in a week is transitioning from routine downpour to certified deluge. This one won?t produce the record-setting precipitation of the first two?but that?s not much of a consolation, because the camel?s back has already been broken. Just 40 kilometres east of here, in Abbotsford, hundreds of homes and farms lie deep underwater, and thousands of animals have drowned. In days to come, there will be debates over how much of the rain was due to climate change, and how much to mere weather, but one thing will remain indisputable: the flooding wouldn?t have been so extreme or impactful if humans hadn?t altered the environment in such an ill-considered way. Which helps explain this visit to the Clayton Community Centre. As the first community centre in Canada and largest non-residential building in North America to receive Passive House certification, it was expressly intended to both slow the progression of climate change and perform in a climate-changed world.
Inside, a large central commons serves...