The Peterborough Arena and Aquatic Centre

Peterborough, Ontario, Canada

Not all background buildings need to be renovations or adaptive reuse. There is an art to doing these buildings from the ground up – and creating the kind of environments that are both fresh, yet feel like they might always have been there. In Ontario, every community has a hockey rink – and they are an important part of the fabric of Canadian life.

This wonderful new community centre in Peterborough also hosts a library. Lots of former pro’s have come from this city and you can imagine coming here to watch future Bob Gainey’s, Steve Larmers, Corey Perry’s and Corry Stillman’s if you are a hockey geek. With its orange wrap and curved entry - it is fun and whimsical, yet is also a simple and welcoming facility –a big box with style and clear cues back to its park surroundings – it has strong conceptual clarity – you know what it is, where you are going and what you’ll find inside – nothing more or less. Many such arena’s do less with much more – this one does a lot with less.

Family Tree Clinic

Minneapolis, MN

Family Tree Clinic is another new build that is not trying to do more than its should, and by doing so manages to do everything it needs. It is a solid new piece of the Minneapolis fabric serving a population that needs and deserves a welcoming place in the community. The 17,000sf building is a clinic serving the LGBTQ+ community and does so in a dignified manner. There is a certain bravery in the design – the main brickwork is refined and reserved and clearly fits within the context of the street – and yet as you begin to get close, you see how color is used to draw you in. Murals visible on the corner and backside are a celebration of culture, neither hiding nor in your face. Great background buildings express the essence of what they are – and this one says “we belong here, we are part of this place”. Great love and care went into this wonderful new facility.