SURREY — Surrey’s new Guildford Aquatic Centre has won a prestigious design award. Wood Design & Building Magazine, with the Canada Wood Council, has chosen the 75,000-square-foot aquatic centre to receive the 2015/16 North American Wood Design Award of Honour. It was selected from more than 140 competition entries.
Designed by Bing Thom Architects, the Guildford Aquatic Centre opened last March and features a 50-metre, eight-lane FINI-certified Olympic sized main pool, a leisure pool with sprays, a waterslide and lazy river, family-friendly hot tub, steam room, dry sauna and 300-seat area for spectators.
It also has 95-foot long wood trusses with built-in “up lighting” simulating natural light and a catwalk for maintenance.
Surrey Mayor Linda Hepner said investing in the city’s recreational facilities “is integral to building healthy communities.” The award, she said, “certainly recognizes a commitment to excellence in our civic infrastructure projects.”
The winner was selected by a jury of prominent architects from Canada and the U.S. The judges considered creativity as well as the “distinctive and appropriate” use of wood and “ability to satisfy building and site requirements, and aesthetic appeal.
Coun. Bruce Hayne, chairman of the city’s parks, recreation and sport tourism committee, said the Guildford Aquatic Centre “will help generate valuable sport tourism opportunities — an area Surrey plans to grow over the coming years.
For more information about the award, check out the Canadian Wood Council at www.cwc.ca
