RICHCRAFTSENSPLEXEAST&BELLSENSPLEXWEST
Commercial / Mixed Use / LEED
Project brief
The Morley Hoppner Group required site and landscape planning for two major community recreation facilities serving Ottawa — the Bell Sensplex West in Kanata and the Richcraft Sensplex East on Shefford Road. Both facilities are large mixed-use complexes housing fitness centres, office suites, retail, four ice pads, and restaurants. The East project added additional complexity — it required the renovation and incorporation of the existing Potvin Arena into the new overall site, adapting an existing facility into a larger new development while maintaining operations. The East site (Richcraft Sensplex) also pursued LEED certification. Both projects involved Public Private Partnership contract models requiring coordination between private developers, the City of Ottawa, and community ice partners.
Gino's role
Urban design, landscape planning, tender documents, and intensive construction field review on both sites.
Outcome
Both projects completed on time and on budget. GJA delivered site and landscape planning that successfully integrated large-scale community recreation facilities into their surrounding neighbourhoods. The Sensplex East project is particularly notable for the complexity of adapting an existing arena into a new mixed-use site while meeting LEED requirements — a challenge requiring detailed coordination between multiple stakeholders including the City of Ottawa.
