Concrete gives way to glass

Expansion of 1970’s Saint-Georges Multisport Complex, Canada

published in sb magazine 6/2024 

Authors: ABCP architecture
Photos: Stéphane Groleau

Connected to the Saint-Georges High School, the new Saint-Georges Multisport Complex is the result of a joint effort by the Beauce-Etchemin School Service Center and the City of Saint-Georges to provide top-tier sports facilities for students and citizens. The complex includes a double gymnasium, a recreational pool, a semi-Olympic pool with ten lanes, as well as classrooms. It stands out for its wooden structures, large bay windows, perforated diamond-patterned envelope, and energy performance.

The multisport complex is an expansion of the Saint-Georges High School, built in 1974. In its architectural treatment, the expansion adopts and reinterprets the modern heritage codes. Inspired by the existing building, the new structure integrates by revisiting the stratification of levels. Thus, a fully glazed base echoes the concrete sections, while a perforated aluminum cladding with a diamond effect evokes the angulation of the elevated buttresses.

Nevertheless, both buildings bear witness to their respective eras. In the 1970s, concrete was the dominant material, and buildings were quite inward-looking and introverted. The architects wanted to open the new building to the outside world. On the facade, concrete gives way to glass.