––––––––––––––feasibility in three steps  recreational complex, montreal

The site finds itself at the meeting of park to the north and city to the south. A preliminary massing study (exclusive to site, but not to program) responded to this interface by extending a linear street element northward into the site, while continuing the openness of the park's greenspace southward that gradually slopes up to the complex; these two primary gestures culminated at the massing's greatest height. The south-west orientation of a pavilion-type element responded to a dramatic topographic dip known as the "Glen". 

Changing rooms may be formally regarded as the transition between main circulation and specialized sports spaces. The transformation of personal costume before and after using a particular space becomes ritual; indeed, one showers, or "cleanses", before and after swimming. In light of this, changing rooms however tend to be stuck in pockets of the plan as programmatic leftovers, lacking qualities such as natural daylight and ventilation. 

A massing developed solely on program explored an idea of centralizing the changing rooms (shown as the darker masses in the above model) such that the various activities of the complex would revolve around them. Varying their heights allowed for an interplay of spatial relationships as well as manipulation of the ground plane, in order to dramatise the mediation between the exterior and interior. 

The possibilities derived from part two of the feasibility study were applied back to the particular site in question. The variation in floor levels called for extensive design by section, exploiting the interstitial spaces and extended wall surfaces produced by the vertical shifts of spaces.  

Interstitial space created a viewing gallery onto a hockey rink below; extended wall surfaces were ideal for rock climbing facilities, as well as for an elevated basketball terrace facing the park. Sculpting the ground plane created a green slope up to the terrace, as well as a sunken exterior wading pool counterpoint to the interior swimming facilities of the pavilion.  

The street element present in the preliminary massing was eliminated, effectively opening the park through the site and down to the street; circulation on the ground plane becomes a more engaging experience for the visitor approaching from either direction.