Freres Mass Ply Will be Displayed in Canada’s State-of-the-Art Sports and Recreation Centre
Edmonton’s new facility will feature 60K sq. ft. of Mass Ply
Since its inception in early 2015, Freres Engineered Wood’s Mass Ply Panels have been making waves in the American wood products marketplace. As Mass Ply grows in popularity, builders and designers outside the United States have also taken notice. With construction on the Coronation Park Sports and Recreation Centre in Edmonton now underway, Mass Ply is crossing borders and making its way into the Alberta marketplace.
Back in 2018, Canada received its first Mass Ply Panel, purchased for a single family home, from Freres Wood. Today however, Edmonton’s massive new sports facility is raising the bar. The state-of-the-art facility will showcase 60,000 square feet of exposed Mass Ply in the roof and walls, representing the largest installation of Mass Ply in Canada to-date. The panels shipped for this project measure 4 feet wide by 43 feet long with a thickness of 2”. Freres Wood is excited to work alongside another mass timber fabricator, CutMyTimber, to equip this facility and pave the way for more sustainable mass timber products being used in Canada.
The Coronation Park Sports and Recreation Centre will serve as a recreation hub for the community, while also creating opportunities for year-round triathlon and cycling training and events. Design plans include a fitness center, walking/jogging track, gymnasiums, multi-purpose rooms and more.
Additionally, the facility will feature the third Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI)-sanctioned indoor cycling track, also known as a velodrome, in all of North America.
With seating capacity for 750 spectators, the new velodrome will provide ample space to host international cycling competitions as well as a high performance training resource. The Argyll Velodrome Association and the World Triathlon Series Edmonton have partnered together to help design and fund this new track. The award-winning Peter Hemingway Fitness and Leisure Centre — an aquatic centre that is undergoing rehabilitation — will connect to the Coronation Park Sports and Recreation Centre and is set to reopen when Coronation is complete.
While early planning for the recreation centre began back in 2007, the project was officially approved in 2021. Construction started in the spring of 2022, and crews first installed Mass Ply in early 2023. The anticipated completion date for this project is 2026.
Download PDF of Canada’s Sports and Recreation Centre project