Once known mostly for its racetrack and rodeo, the $22.5-million Cloverdale Recreation Centre marks the modern renewal of Cloverdale and its iconic Fairgrounds. Completed on time and under budget by CEI Architecture, the building is the first of six planned by the City of Surrey for the Cloverdale Fairgrounds site.
“We have done a number of projects for the City of Surrey but with this building in particular they wanted to make a real announcement about the Fairgrounds and its design direction,” says CEI Architecture partner Mark Hentze. “We were able to use expressive but economical wood forms to complete a very complex, high impact building.”
Fundamental to the design was the use of uniform curved wooden trusses. Varying their orientation allowed the interior spaces to achieve heights needed to meet programmatic objectives and contribute to an incredibly fluid, evocative architectural expression.
CEI Architecture followed the City of Surrey’s sustainability charter and also used the Green Globes sustainable design evaluation process as an internal pilot project. All of which, according to Hentze, amount comparably to LEED Silver design requirements.
The recreational program includes a twin gymnasium, a 10,000-square-foot fitness centre, multi-purpose rooms, as well as spaces dedicated to seniors, child-minding and youth programs. Due in large part to the population boom in Cloverdale, a significant driver for the facility was, as one citizen said during the initial public consultations, capable of addressing “The exuberance of youth and the mobility of seniors.”
CEI Architecture also designed Cloverdale’s Chuck Bailey Recreation Centre and is responsible for many recreation facilities across Canada, including the Hollyburn Country Club.