Visiting and learning from eight exceptional sports and leisure facilities on two days – this was the ambitious goal of this year’s study trip to Greater Vancouver, Canada. The tour was thoroughly planned by former IAKS Vice President Conrad Boychuk and realised with the kind support of our Canadian partners.
70 professionals from Argentina, Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and the US joined the facility tour from aquatic facilities to community centres, including a visit to the Richmond Olympic Oval. The delegates were shown around by the managers and / or architects of the facilities and received useful background information.
Comparing to the situation from outside Canada, an expert from the UK stated that Canadian sports and leisure buildings are much more than just spaces for physical activity. They often combine traditional sports & leisure facilities with a wide range of community spaces such as music rooms, snooker rooms, crafts & art workshops, pre-school spaces, libraries. Designed to support a multitude of community programmes (from „over 55s clubs“ to youth and pre-school programmes) they generate buildings that are buzzing with activity even on a rainy Tuesday morning.
The description of the eight facilies is available at the event site and a wrap-up of the tour will be featured in sb magazine 4/2022, so today we share some impressions in the picture gallery.
