EDMONTON SPORTS PARK PAVILLION

An analysis of the site conditions brought forward several challenges and opportunities to the design of the pavilion.The design of the John Fry Sports Park pavilion features a building wedged beneath a lifted ground plane. The lifting of the ground over the building creates a large amount of public space that would have otherwise been lost.

This structure enables the community to create a well defined public plaza 

that can be used for softball and baseball tournaments as well as for general community use.

The terraced plaza reaching across the building provides views of the baseball diamonds and serves as a unique leisure space in the south end of Edmonton. Rather than occupy the land with change rooms and storage, the design effectively creates new public space both on the interior and exterior of the facility.

Located on an existing baseball diamond, the John Fry Sports Park pavilion will serve as the social heart of a neighborhood which is overwhelmingly light industrial. The building will be located centrally to all baseball diamonds in the park and will be the central node in the park's trail system. It is ideally situated adjacent to the main baseball diamond and frames a public plaza at its southwest entrance.

The form of the building provides an active public face to the trails through the park and helps to define them. In using native vegetation that harbours urban wildlife, and taking advantage of the changes in sun position and prevailing wind direction, the design is responsive to and embraces the differences in seasons. The terraced landscape creates an area which can be used for small scale arts and cultural performances.