Cor Van Raay YMCA at the ATB Centre in Lethbridge Alberta

Landscape and programming of tremendous scale

The ATB Centre has within its scope a very large aquatics program, a fitness centre for strength training and aerobics, a large field house with six gymnasia and a 250-metre running track surrounding multiple studios, multi-purpose and meeting rooms, a youth room, children’s indoor playground, a childcare, physiotherapy, and retail food vendors.

Set amidst the plains of the winding Old Man River, the City of Lethbridge is a quiet, regional centre of about 100,000 inhabitants looking west towards the Rocky Mountains. The Cor Van Raay YMCA has been constructed on the edge of the prairie, anticipating the forthcoming resi­dential growth. This ambitious project is actually the second phase of a previously constructed twin-pad arena and ice-curling complex. The Cor Van Raay YMCA at the ATB Centre is the third largest YMCA in North America.

A central “Galleria” space flanks the existing arena complex but, most significantly, provides the central access and circulation to the major elements of the ATB Centre. The Galleria acts as a prairie main street, providing a simple but clear space to meet and gather, view activities or have a coffee, as well as take in an impromptu performance in the casual theatre seating.