October 22, 2020

Oakville, ON - Inspired by the adjacent Chimney Swift colony the new Oakville Trafalgar Community Centre (OTCC), a health and wellness facility, is set to serve the needs of the Oakville community as a gathering place for groups large and small.

The dynamic 53,000 square foot facility offers a 25-metre lap pool, warm water pool with water play feature, universal changerooms, double gymnasium, fitness centre, walking track open to gym, multipurpose meeting rooms, and a cafe. The 25-metre pool is the first complete Natare pool system in Canada with steel walls and a sand filter system. The Centre’s sweeping white form is set in a new neighbourhood park, which includes an accessible playground, pavilion, splashpad, and landscaped gardens. 

Delivered through the collaborative Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) model, the OTCC was designed with input from the design and construction teams, the Town, and the public as an inviting and engaging destination. Focused on accessibility and sustainability, the OTCC is LEED Silver targeted. The energy efficient building includes rooftop solar panels and a geo-thermal field for heating and cooling.

Simple, geometric shapes drive the form of this building. The larger volume, containing the gymnasia and the galleria embrace the lower volume of the aquatics facility. The galleria acts as spine connecting the future civic square through the building and out to the new park. Natural light through bird-friendly windows and an asymmetrically ascending wood ceiling bring the outdoors into the aquatics area. The palette of high contrast blues and white ex-tend from the façade with a playful design of blue panel, each colour with a different reveal proportion, to the interior of the design.

Designed to the Oakville Universal Design Standards, the OTCC is accessible for everyone in the community, with generous space for mobility devices, ramps into the pools, and high contrast colours on material finishes for ease of navigation.

“The Oakville Trafalgar Community Centre is an excellent example of a successful partnership between the owner and design/build team that the IPD agreement type delivers. It has resulted in an outstanding high-quality facility providing good value for the taxpayer.”

- David Dow, Principal in Charge, Diamond Schmitt

“This facility was designed with extensive input from the community and the end result exceeds our expectations. This new community centre features state-of-the art amenities, allowing us to offer a variety of recreation and culture programs to support the health and wellness needs of Oakville residents. We look forward to sharing this space with everyone in our community, as we know it will serve as a focal point for activity, engagement and interaction for today’s residents and for generations to come.”

- Julie Mitchell, Director of Recreation and Culture, Town of Oakville