Project Details
- Project Name
- Rideau Canal Skateway Chalets
- Project Types
- Transportation
- Shared by
-
Editor,Hanley Wood
- Project Status
- Built
Project Description
The Rideau Canal is designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The 7.8km Rideau Canal Skateway, is operated by the National Capital Commission (NCC). Each year the skateway hosts more than a million skaters and is the main attraction for the Winterlude Festival.
CSV designed skate change shelters at four busy nodes along the skateway, to provide comfortable and efficient facilities for the skaters. The technical constraints were demanding. Each structure would be designed within strict size and weight restrictions, to be hoisted into place each season. The new change shelters feature: a full glass wall facing the canal; steel and wood structure with a vaulted roof stiffened by curved steel ribs; engineered form which recalls the historic bridge and industrial structures along the Rideau Canal and makes abstract references to skates, sleds, and the ice of the canal; porches provide shelter from the wind and fair-weather seating; colored glass enlivens the interior during the day and glows at night; wood benches nest into the inside curve of the steel.
The new shelters are popular with skaters, the dramatic design portrays a modern and vibrant image of the skateway helping to raise the bar for public architecture in the Nation’s Capital.
The shelters have: durable structure and finished, designed for high volume use; ceiling mounted radiant heating panels to provide consistent warmth during temperature fluctuations due to in-and-out traffic; LED fixtures for feature lighting; high efficiency T5 fixtures with light harvesting controls; and airline type washroom fixtures for ultra-low water consumption.