CDBI’s eighth annual Awards of Excellence has honoured the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre in the ‘Community Development’ category. The jury commended that the facility, also known as UBC Winter Sports Centre and UBC Thunderbird Arena, demonstrated a text-book design-build approach to an arena design challenge.
The arena owned by University of British Columbia (UBC) has been integrated with several clever features that made the scheme stand out. Various special innovations that are uncommon in ice arenas made the sports centre unique and multi-functional.
Located on the site of UBC’s historic David Bauer Arena, the facility integrates the old into one comprehensive new venue that will be used for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. The building design takes into account both needs for the 2010 Winter Olympics as well as legacy requirements for the university.
The Thunderbird Sports Centre features 5,000 permanent seats but can hold up to 7,500 people for the Olympics and future special events such as concerts and exhibitions. It has three ice sheets, a 550 square metre multipurpose room, 460 square metre physiotherapy or fitness centre, 13 public dressing rooms, six referees and coaches rooms, two varsity rooms and one alumni room. The adaptability of the Thunderbird Sports Centre is complemented by its energy efficiency. Key features include high efficiency lighting and an Eco-Chill heat recovery system.
The project team included Bird Design-Build Ltd., Kasian Architects and HOK Architects.
The arena is home to the UBC Thunderbirds men’s and women’s ice hockey teams, and contains one international-size 61m by 30m ice rink.
Established in 2002, the CDBI Awards of Excellence are presented annually to recognise excellence in Canada’s design-build industry and to acknowledge design-build teams whose projects contribute to the growth and stature of the design-build profession.
