Surrey Clayton Community Centre

Clayton Community Centre will be the first facility in Surrey, British Columbia, to combine the arts, recreation, a library, and park spaces. It will also be the largest building in Canada to achieve a Passive House certification.

Amenities at the Centre will include childcare facilities, visual arts studios, rehearsal hall, music studios, workshop, fitness centre, gymnasium, library, computer learning, silent study, multipurpose spaces, and social spaces for the community. The Centre’s steel and concrete structure will support a one-of-a-kind glue-laminated roof structure. The building will be on the leading edge of energy efficient design and construction because of its Passive House Certification target.

The certification will recognize the City of Surrey’s sustainability goals, as detailed in their Sustainability Charter and intended to foster sustainable neighbourhoods.

A typical Passive House building meets up to one-third of its heating demand through solar gains. The orientation of the Centre and the locations of its rooms are arranged to benefit from the solar path. The library, where internal heat gains are low and natural lighting is desired, is situated in the south with large areas of glass that increase exposure to solar heat. The gymnasium, fitness centre, and the rehearsal hall are all oriented to the north to reduce cooling needs in a space with high internal heat gains.