The City of Maryland Heights renovated an old church into a community centre designed to meet the diverse recreational, fitness and lifestyle needs of the Maryland Heights community. The building was designed to transfer light throughout the entire building, showering the aquatic centre, track, double-court gym and weight room with natural light. Simultaneously the centre, located between a main highway and shopping centre, needed to block unsightly local views and noise as well as reducing the sun’s glare and heat for its athletes and visitors.
The architect, CannonDesign, used UniQuad®, the translucent wall system developed by Kingspan Light + Air to meet the lighting demands of the building design. The UniQuad® system is diverse and adaptable due to its scalability and additional sound reduction capabilities. The plans incorporated 9,280 square feet of UniQuad® panels into the façade of this 90,000 square foot centre.
The resulting system provides a fantastic diffused light that strategically limits views to the outdoors and focuses attention on the activity within the centre. The system was also beneficial for the project due to its ability to meet the curved and tapered wall design of the building, while boasting an impressive 10 foot span in the process.
The community centres innovation solution has earned a number of awards:
* 2018, Healthcare Environment Award - Contract Magazine Healthcare Environment Awards
* 2018, Facility of Merit - Athletic Business Architectural Showcase
* 2018, Honorable Mention Award - Illuminating Engineering Society, Boston
* 2017, Honor Award - American Institute of Architects, St. Louis
* 2016, Unbuilt Merit Award - American Institute of Architects, St. Louis