Minoru Park is in the centre of the City of Richmond and is home to many key civic buildings such as a library, theatre, and centre for active living. With Minoru Park currently undertaking extensive renovation, the City of Richmond is also seeking to replace the existing Richmond Bowling Green clubhouse with a community centre fit for both the lawn bowling group as well as other groups. The program consists of a multipurpose space with adjacent kitchen, changing and lockers, washrooms and storage spaces.
With many towering mature trees surrounding the site the intention from the outset was to create an elegant pavilion in the park that can be viewed from every angle. Through several meetings with the city and the bowling committee the required program was distilled, devoting as much space to the social multipurpose space as possible. SHAPE Architecture sought to provide connectivity between the two greens by cutting a breezeway through the program, separating the social from the pragmatic. These two masses were then connected under a unifying cover providing protection from sun and rain. These design moves responded to the bowling committee’s desire to host major events in the future, creating a building that could expand into semi conditioned spaces, providing greater flexibility at reduced additional costs.
