The pan am aquatics centre, field house and the canadian sport institute ontario was a competition venue for the 2015 pan am para pan and now, post games, is a local community centre, an athletic facility for the university of toronto scarborough campus, and a high performance training centre for elite athletes.
It is located at the boundary between a residential district and the expanding campus of the university where its distinct silhouette will act as a landmark for the games, and as a symbol of a new community institution and gateway anchor for the expanding university. The massing landscape design and graphic surface patterns both inside and out are dynamic implying movement inspired by the athletics it houses and the geological transformation of the landscape of the southern ontario. The building is partially sunken into the ground to reduce its visual scale and to place the playing fields one storey below the public entry level creating overview vantage points for visitors from public circulation inside and surrounding exterior sidewalks.
A combination of clear and transparent glazed areas provide abundant natural light and views but are at the same time position to avoid glare on the playing surface. The transparent glass is made bird friendly with a frit pattern that celebrates the sports that the facility supports.
The facility achieved leed gold and has 8987m2 of roof covered in photo voltaic panels while the remaining 5223 m2 is green roof. In order to further reduce dependence on fossil fuels 100 geothermal wells have been sunk in the north parking lot. The building has been design to exceed all present ontario barrier free requirements in order to be an exemplar facility for the para-pan games as well as fully accessible for the future community use.