The Cowan Indoor Recreation Centre is set to become Kitchener, Ontario’s first Net zero carbon building and one of Canada’s most sustainable recreation facilities.
Spanning more than 222,000 sq. ft., the multi-purpose community hub will feature:
- An indoor aquatics centre that features a lane pool and a recreational pool
- Viewing galleries for the pool areas
- A FIFA-sized indoor turf field that can be used for soccer, cricket lacrosse and more
- Two indoor cricket practice areas
- An elevated walking track
- Quad gymnasium
- Flexible community spaces designed to serve a growing and diverse population.
Integrated Design and Hybrid Construction
Element5 was engaged early in the design phase as part of the project’s Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) team, contributing to mass timber member sizing and connection design. The primary steel structure incorporates Element5-supplied cross-laminated timber (CLT) panels within the building envelope, showcasing how hybrid steel and mass timber systems can work together to deliver large-scale civic infrastructure efficiently, sustainably, and cost-effectively.
In addition to the building envelope, Spruce-Pine-Fir (SPF) CLT and nanoCLT panels were prefabricated for precision installation across the aquatic and gym field house walls. The use of prefabricated mass timber components improved coordination, accelerated installation, and supported Lean Construction principles throughout the project lifecycle. BIM and 3D modelling were used extensively to align design, fabrication, and construction teams, helping optimize scheduling, cost certainty, and construction efficiency.
Designed for a Net-Zero Future
Sustainability was a driving force behind the vision for Cowan Centre. In addition to geothermal heating and cooling systems and one of the city’s largest solar panel arrays, the integration of mass timber helps reduce embodied carbon while supporting the project’s pursuit of the Canada Green Building Council’s Zero Carbon Building Standard v3 – Design certification.
Once operational, the projected to reduce carbon emissions by approximately 22 tonnes annually while generating an estimated $100,000 in yearly utility savings for the City of Kitchener.
The mass timber portion of the project has been completed. The remaining portions of the project are under construction and targeting completion in late 2026.
