Whitemud Equine Centre

Location: Edmonton, AB
Year: 2017
Status: Completed
Size: 2500 m² / 27,000 ft²
Awards:
• City of Edmonton Mayor’s Awards | Winner - Accessible Homes and Buildings (Non-Residential) (2020)

The project brought together an uncommon program and site, deserving of a unique architectural proposal. Prominently situated in Edmonton’s River Valley park system, the site operated as a farmstead until it transitioned into public space, resulting in a setting that is unique for being both pastoral and urban. The site has a rustic charm and a serene agrarian atmosphere, yet it now sits within the developed city. The Whitemud Equine Centre provides lesson programs and therapeutic programs designed for persons with disabilities. The new building consists of an indoor riding arena, stables, and various classroom and spectator functions. The facility is regularly used by children and riders using wheelchairs, and is designed to extend principles of barrier-free accessibility to a building type that would not normally include them.

The design organizes the public spaces and stables as distinct volumes framing the taller central riding arena, with the more public spaces positioned facing the major commuter road and south sun. Befitting the unique site, the building design also seeks to situate itself between urban and rural. Built with utilitarian materials, the design incorporates ideas from traditional agrarian buildings, using contemporary building techniques. A multi-wall polycarbonate panel is used at the arena clerestory that permits controlled daylight into the space, while passively contributing to heating the arena space in the winter. For summer months, automated operable windows on the north clerestory glazing provide passive cooling to supplement mechanical airflow. After dark, the diffuse illumination of the upper volume will signal activity within to the commuters passing by.