The Emera Oval Pavilion is constructed at the centre of a significant recreational destination within the Halifax Regional Municipality. Located at edge bordering between the northern and southern portions of the Halifax Common, the pavilion provides a gathering place for users of the skating oval and the broader Commons while also filling the need to provide services specific to the Oval.
The building is split into two programmatic pieces by a covered passageway, separating the predominantly staff spaces from the public areas with a footprint of 4,500 sq.ft. The pavilion is designed to be flexible, adjusting to its offered amenities throughout the seasons. The public area houses skate and safety equipment rental facility for ice skates in the winter and inline- and roller skate rentals in summer, public washrooms, and a lounge spaces for warming. The garage on the staff side stores ice resurfacers in the wintertime while in the summer, the garage door opens onto the Oval to offer bikes, scooters, and roller sledges to visitors.
The passageway between the two areas preserves the visual and physical connections between the park space and the oval plaza. The roof floats above these two structures, covering both indoor and outdoor space totaling 6,750 sq.ft. -- a large sheltered area from the elements. The wood clad roof folds up from the centre, addressing both the Commons and the Oval, then tapers towards the edges. This minimizes its profile and visual impact, creating the sense that it is native to the park setting. The lightness of the roof is balanced by the two solid masses clad in brick to correspond to the civic nature of nearby landmarks. The presence of the pavilion -- its siting and design -- amplifies the success of an already active focal point in the city of Halifax.
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