Westmount Recreation Centre

The City of Westmount recently replaced its aging municipal arena and pool with a new and unique sports facility, completed in 2014. The Westmount Recreation Centre was inaugurated on September 19, 2013. The 8,270 m² complex, located at St. Catherine Street West and Lansdowne Avenue, features:

• two full-size underground NHL-sized ice rinks, used for hockey, figure skating, general skating and other ice sports;
• a fully-accessible 20 m x 25 m competition-standard outdoor pool with separate wading pond and extensive deck area;
• 13 locker rooms;
• 3 multi-purpose activity rooms, used for fitness classes, events and meetings;
• a teen centre;
• a green roof above the ice rinks;
• an indoor lounge area at the pool level and a community café at the park level;
• the administrative offices of the City’s Sports and Recreation Department;
• state-of-the-art HVAC, including heat-recovery ventilators, heat pumps, chillers, air-conditioning units and radiant floor heating;
• the use of energy-efficient lighting and water-saving devices;
• two charging stations for electric vehicles;
• a stormwater management system.

The Centre’s unprecedented design uses the site’s topography to best advantage, burying the ice rinks in the upper part of a slope under a landscaped roof that provides an extra 1.5 acres of green space adjacent to historic Westmount Park, opening up views and reducing the visual impact of a large complex in the midst of a residential neighbourhood.

Also at the park level, a red-brick entrance pavilion, designed in keeping with the local architectural heritage, houses a community café with ample windows that act as a skylight to the lounge area immediately below.

Two exposed brick facades next to the mid-level pool terrace bring natural light to offices, common areas and pool changing rooms. Further south, a generous green space provides an important visual and acoustic buffer between the swimming pool and a busy street as well as a water retention pond at the surface and an underground stormwater management system.

Westmount Recreation Centre

LEED Certification – Gold

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a rating system that is recognized as the international mark of excellence for sustainable building in over 132 countries. Since 2002, the Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC) and LEED Canada have been redefining the buildings and communities where Canadians live, work and learn. LEED certification recognizes that sustainability should be at the heart of all buildings – in their design, construction and operation.

a design in harmony with its surroundings, high energy efficiency and sustainability:
Welcome to the underground world of the Westmount Recreation Centre

Exterior pool and park

The City of Westmount now has an outstanding facility that has no equal in the world. This new sports and recreational building, with a net floor area of 7,500 m² (80,500 ft²), is almost entirely built underground.

Find out more about each feature by clicking on the black dots.