New fitness and recreation centre

Group Eight Engineering Limited was retained to provide structural and electrical engineering services for the new Niagara Centre YMCA, located on the Welland Campus of Niagara College.

The scope of services included preliminary design, tender and construction document preparation, assistance with contract administration and general site review.

The two-storey, 51,000 ft² facility features a leisure pool, a lap pool, gymnasium with an elevated, suspended running track, physical conditioning areas, multi-purpose rooms and children's areas. Also included are change room areas with a total of 450 lockers, and administration areas.

The structural design consists of a combination of load-bearing concrete block walls and steel framing which supports second floor precast slabs and steel framed roof areas. The pool area roof is constructed of wood decking for corrosion, aesthetic and acoustic reasons.

Basement walls, pool shell and slabs over underfloor pool service and basement areas are all constructed of reinforced concrete in order to minimize maintenance and corrosion.

The lighting for the pool was provided by custom designed, Twin 400 Watt Metal Halide fixtures with direct/indirect lighting features. Emergency lighting fixtures using 26 Watt PL lamps are also built into the pool fixtures.

The tendered construction cost was under budget, which allowed the Owner to include a number of desired options, which were included in the original tender.