The Best Seats
In The House

Operating across three campuses in eastern Ontario, St. Lawrence College (SLC) is one of the province’s leading institutions when it comes to applied arts and technology. Home to roughly 7,000 full-time students, SLC specializes in programs such as applied science and computing, baccalaureate nursing, business, community services, justice studies, applied arts, health sciences as well as skilled trades and tourism.

As the institution continues to experience exponential growth, 2018 was the year that saw exciting projects come to fruition at the school’s flagship campus in Kingston. As part of the Hello Future Capital Project, renovations and a new build to the Student Life and Innovation Centre got underway after over 80 percent voted in favour of supporting the project in a student referendum.

Gymnasiums, once used solely for basketball games or gym class in public schools during the 1960s and 1970s are now becoming popular venues for social and community events. Over the decades, the large open space design of gymnasiums has been used as a makeshift setting for a large capacity banquet or an occasional awards assembly for the small local community. Fortunately, in the designs of today’s gyms, this multi-purpose concept has been embraced and modernized to accommodate an array of activities from sports and athletics to community events.

Making Your Facility a Winner

Whether you are interested in renovating and upgrading an existing gymnasium or creating a brand new one, solutions are available. With sports equipment, seating and lighting options available come in an array of designs ranging from stationary to foldable and even retractable, to allow space for other purposes. Gym divider curtains are also available to section off spaces for various events. Additionally, there is a wide selection of flooring options as well, all of which will help in making your facility a winner. 

With baseball season in our rearview and snow beginning to fly in much of the north, many of us are concentrating on finishing up football seasons or commencing various indoor sports such as basketball and volleyball.

While this is common for this time of the year, there are those who never seem to tire of baseball or preparing for the following season. With batting cages found in many outdoor environments, advancements in the design of these enclosed practice spaces are now allowing them to be moved indoors.

This was proven by our team recently when we received a phone call from Harriton High School located just outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. With one indoor batting cage already installed, the school was in need of a second one to keep up with demand from the big bats at the high school.

The advancement of technology is enabling us to do more than ever before imagined. We are referring to the potential available in the world of architecture and design with the use of virtual reality and augmented reality. This technology means that it is no longer necessary to stare at blueprints and concepts on paper to attain a grasp of what the finished product will look like. Instead we now have the ability to take a virtual walk-through of a project through the use of 3D rendering software and holographic display. 

Enhancing Athletic Facility Design Using VR/AR

Originally used for gaming, the technology used in head-mounted displays is now being used in architectural and design phases. In 2014 design professions began embracing the VR technology and now, new building designs, such as athletic facilities, can be virtually toured before construction begins. But it doesn’t stop there; once the building design is experienced through virtual reality, the layout and placement of everything from bleachers to exit doors to the scoreboard can be viewed using augmented reality. This is exactly what happened during the design phase of the St. Louis MLS Soccer Stadium, when a virtual and augmented reality tour revealed that the scoreboard placement would pose problems. The abilities of this technology are being embraced and becoming more available all the time.

Designed to offer students a place completely void of outside distractions, quiet rooms, sensory rooms and de-escalation rooms are now commonplace in many academic institutions across Canada and the United States.

Depending on their exact purpose, these types of rooms can be outfitted with equipment used to help stimulate the senses or can have nothing at all and simply serve as a quiet place for students who simply need some time alone. Constructed entirely using our custom padding department, these rooms often feature wall padding including custom cut-outs, door padding and customized floor padding to ensure the environment is also a safe one for those who use them.

The proper maintenance and care of gymnasium flooring will help preserve what was most likely a costly investment. The frequency in which a gymnasium floor should be cleaned is dependent on the amount of traffic involved.

While gymnasium flooring comes in a variety of coverings ranging from hardwood, linoleum, rubber and padded, knowing how to clean it safely will increase the life and look of the flooring for years to come. Here we will review the care of some of the most common floor coverings used in gymnasiums.

Looking directly into the backyard of Buffalo, New York, Fort Erie is one of the Niagara area’s fastest growing communities located along the banks of the Niagara River.

With a backstory that dates back to the War of 1812, Old Fort Erie attracts visitors from across the country looking for a historic re-enactment and a trip back to a pivotal time in Canadian history.

We had the pleasure of visiting this beautiful town after being enlisted by the District School Board of Niagara to design, supply and install a completely new seating structure for a local high school.

With what is one of the most recognizable names in personal development and athletics across North America, the YMCA organization is deeply connected with our roots here in our hometown of Almonte, Ontario.

As many are aware, the founder of basketball, Dr. James Naismith was born here in our fair town but what remains unknown to many is that the sport was actually developed elsewhere. In fact, it wasn’t until Naismith was studying at what was then known as the YMCA International Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts that he invented the game when tasked with interesting pupils in physical exercise.

An aquatics centre often proves to be the most immersive and carefree environment in a community. Bringing one to your neighbourhood will definitely prove to be a worthy feat, although the initial planning can be a little challenging.

The same goes if you are planning to renovate an existing aquatics facility or if you're turning a pre-existing building into an aquatics centre for the first time.

Whether you've worked in this field before or not, modern innovations bring about quite a few fresh considerations that you should keep in mind in order to make your aquatics centre the absolute best choice in the area. Here's a quick guide to get you on track.

Located on the Island of Montreal, Lachine is a borough of the city in southwestern Quebec. Thought to have been named in 1667 after its then owner René-Robert Cavelier de La Salle attempted to find passage to Asia while exploring the interior of North America. It was aptly named Lachine, (from the French language, la Chine (China)) and has a colourful history leading up to its incorporation as a city in 1872 and then finally being merged as a part of the City of Montreal in 2002.

In one of our more recent projects this fall, our team was on the ground in Lachine, working closely with our partners at ANA Architecture on a retractable bleacher project at a local high school.

Following some good initial conversations and the makings of an established relationship with ANA Architecture, they reached out to our team for specifications on a new telescopic bleacher for the school’s gymnasium.