Inside Burnaby’s new NHL-sized ice rinks under a mass-timber roof

Lace up those skates, and grab your hockey sticks!

The much-anticipated Rosemary Brown Recreation Centre finally opened its doors to the public last week, marking a significant milestone for the City of Burnaby’s network of community and recreation centre facilities.

The $54 million facility is located on the City-owned lot of 7789 18th Street — right next to Byrne Creek Community secondary school, and within walking distance of SkyTrain’s Edmonds Station.

Rosemary Brown Recreation Centre in Burnaby. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

Contained under a mass-timber roof, the 92,000 sq ft building features two NHL-sized ice rinks, each rink containing about 200 seats. All seating areas inside the cool-climate spaces are equipped with overhead heaters to provide spectators with added comfort. Alternatively, there are also warm-side viewing areas behind concealed glass on the second level, overlooking the arena areas below.

For safety from high-flying pucks and other stray projectiles, the entire perimeters of both rinks are protected by safety netting, which almost reaches the ceiling. Pockets of skylights and other exterior windows enable some natural light to stream into the arena spaces.

Both ice rinks can also be used as dry rinks for lacrosse, ball hockey, inline hockey, and community events.

Rosemary Brown Recreation Centre in Burnaby. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

Supporting uses include a skate shop, concession, meeting and multi-purpose rooms, and an outdoor rooftop patio.

A large lobby space featuring expansive northeast-facing windows creates a common area that connects all interior areas.

Mass-timber materials are exposed on the ceiling, walls, and other surfaces. The complex is designed by architectural firm HCMA.

Rosemary Brown Recreation Centre in Burnaby. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

Just outside the lobby’s expansive windows, a public art piece called “Gliding Edge” by local artist Jill Anholt is in the final stages of installation and is expected to reach completion later this spring.

Singular metal blade-like sculptural forms rising from the ground are inspired by the persistence and determination required to learn the skill of ice skating. During nighttime, the blades are illuminated by LED lights to create shifting shadows on the ground that are “evocative of the temporal carvings of skate blade patterns in the ice.”

The arena is named after Rosemary Brown, a prominent local BC NDP MLA between 1972 and 1986 and the first Black woman elected to a provincial legislature in Canada. Brown won the MLA seat in the riding of Vancouver-Burrard in 1972, and after that riding was dissolved, she picked up the seat for Burnaby-Edmonds in 1979, serving in the arena site’s riding until 1986. She is credited for her work in human rights and for addressing racial and gender discrimination in housing and employment before, during, and after her time in office. She passed away in 2003.

Rosemary Brown Recreation Centre in Burnaby. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

Rosemary Brown Recreation Centre represents the first completed project of the City of Burnaby’s building boom this decade of new municipally owned and operated major community and recreation facilities to better meet the needs of the growing population.

But some patience was required — this facility saw extensive delays due to construction issues, initially due to supply-chain issues early on in the pandemic, such as delays in the shipment of the pre-fabricated mass-timber components.

Construction began in 2019 with a scheduled opening in Summer 2022, but this timeline was repeatedly pushed until it ultimately landed in early 2024.

Rosemary Brown Recreation Centre in Burnaby. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

Other forthcoming projects later this decade spearheaded and funded by the municipal government include the redevelopments of Cameron Recreation Complex in Lougheed Town Centre, Confederation Park Community Centre in Capitol Hill, and Burnaby Lake Aquatic Centre, which has since gone back to its drawing board in design due to escalating construction costs. As well, the City is in the process of planning the brand-new Brentwood Community Centre, which will be integrated into Grosvenor’s high-density, mixed-use development next to SkyTrain Brentwood Town Centre Station.

All of these projects, including the Rosemary Brown Recreation Centre, are funded by the City’s Community Benefit Bonus Fund — the pool of funding from community amenity contributions collected from private developers in exchange for providing additional density for their projects.

The ice rink complex is located just across the street from the first three high-rise residential towers of Ledingham McAllister’s new 60-acre Southgate City neighbourhood, including the 46-storey Icon tower, which is under construction and the tallest tower currently planned for the entire redevelopment, and the pair of Azure towers, which are now nearing full completion.

Upon full buildout, Southgate City, which is a redevelopment of the old Safeway distribution centre and dairy plant, will have over 33,000 residents living in 12,500 homes in dozens of towers and an assortment of low-rise structures. There will also be up to 400,000 sq ft of office, retail, and restaurant space, and extensive park and open spaces, including a five-acre central park with water features.