Trifos | Keating Millennium Centre

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rifos Design Consultants prepared the design for the St. Francis Xavier University’s Charles V. Keating Millennium Centre to meet the broadest possible needs of the Community and St. Francis Xavier University, by providing architecturally-suitable facilities for wellness, athletics, concerts, cultural, and Information Technology (IT) training programs. By looking to the future, the design for the new Millennium Centre strives to commemorate and celebrate the culture, architectural language, and traditions of St. Francis Xavier University, and the community of Antigonish, for many years to come.

Architectural design of the St. Francis Xavier University’s Charles V. Keating Millennium Centre is summarily defined by the following:

Preliminary Design Summary (September 29, 2000)
Total gross building area of 114,176 sq. ft.;
Red-clay brick, masonry, main facade, with arched windows and a white, colonnaded portico, with precast cornices to complement the existing vernacular of the campus;
Decorative, precast-concrete, non-load-bearing panels at the perimeter of the arenas and rear service areas;
White-clad, barrel-vaulted roof over the stadium arena;
1,461 fixed-seat stadium arena, complete with a regulation-sized ice surface;
140 bench-seat auxiliary arena, complete a regulation-sized ice surface;
5,450 sq. ft. IT training and multipurpose assembly space;
6,400 sq. ft. wellness/dance/aerobics fitness centre;
2,900 sq. ft. IT conference and hospitality facilities;
Main lobby and stadium concourse food-service facilities;
Designated men's and women's varsity dressing rooms and support facilities;
Year-round walking and fitness track facilities;
Summer ice availability in either the stadium arena or the auxiliary arena; and
Air-conditioning in all “front-of-house” facilities.

The new complex is physically linked to the existing Oland Centre, and takes advantage of existing movement systems, wellness support facilities, operational staffing, and mechanical infrastructures. The wellness facility, and the new, twin-sheet ice surfaces, are linked to the Oland Centre with a fenestrated gallery, fronting an outdoor “commons.” The creation of a new, pillared portico entrance and fenestrated gallery, embraces the original architectural language of Jens F. Larsen, the architect who was responsible for the design of many of the original campus buildings. The concept further visualizes the incorporation of the palette and geometries of the existing Oland Centre into the new architectural design of the facades.

The design organizes the spaces of the main stadium arena, auxiliary arena, wellness centre, IT training/conferencing, and administration facilities according to their individual programs, functional relationships, and marketing-driven hierarchies. Movement systems (stairs, corridors, and elevator) are carefully placed to facilitate easy wayfinding, and to promote and stimulate revenue-generating opportunities. Back-of-house facilities are organized so as to optimize service, support, and operational functions. The massing of the complex has been optimized, in order to create a square, efficient, floor-plate arrangement.

The entrance grade or ‘ground floor’ as well as the ice surfaces of the new Millennium Centre, are practically level with the grade or entrance floor elevation of the existing Oland Centre. The main arena features an “offset” seating bowl arrangement (more seating rows in the centre); thereby allowing for a double-loaded, centrally-located dressing-/locker-room area, below the raked seating volume. The lower seating bowl, located on the opposite exterior wall, allows for the introduction of a third viewing-gallery level, above the seating concourse. Storage is located below the lower-bowl seating concourse.

The community/auxiliary rink and the main stadium arena are horizontally aligned, so as to facilitate easier cross-through, inter-hall connections for trade and exhibit-participant movement between arena floors. Multiple assembly layouts are easily and effectively accommodated within the arena floor areas, with the inclusion of appropriate ice-surface coverings and acoustic treatments. The design features multiple configurations for concert seating (2,811 seats), centre-stage performances (2,901 seats), presentation venue options (1,138 seats or 2,055 seats), banquet/food services (656 dining seats per arena floor), as well as trade-show/booth layout configurations. These varied layouts formed the planning basis for screening, sound, power, lighting, video, data-networking, and food-service infrastructure placements.

In addition to the requisite stadium and auxiliary arena ice-surfaces and ancillary facilities, the health and fitness component of this facility features a new, 6,400 square-foot wellness centre, adjacent and attached to the existing aquatic centre, which is located less than 50 feet away. The wellness facility features dance and aerobic exercise studio(s) with sprung-wood floor, dance change room, and equipment storage capacity. Adjacent to the dance and aerobic exercise studio(s) is a new, 3,875 square-foot athletic fitness centre, with direct views to the gallery corridor and the auxiliary arena. In addition to ice hockey and skating facilities, the auxiliary arena can easily be equipped to support indoor soccer equipment.

The auxiliary arena design includes a heated, indoor walking track, with a 140-seat bleacher-seating gallery. The track has three (3) walking lanes on demarcated rubber flooring, with public community access from the main entry/foyer, or direct access from the fitness centre.

The traffic generated by close proximity of the Oland Centre to the new wellness centre and public foyer spaces, created a unique, revenue-generation opportunity for a concession/juice bar and coffee-shop facility. The main-floor entrance/foyer is organized so as to allow easy access to the box offices and stadia, while also allowing convenient and visible access to the coffee shop and concessions facility, and an outdoor terrace. The entrance/foyer also provides retail opportunities in the form of a securely-enclosed, retail store environment, as well as an adjacent pro-shop facility.

In addition to fulfilling its health and fitness role, the Millennium Centre was specifically designed to serve as an economic-development generator for tourism and IT training. As mentioned previously, the facility design effectively accommodates concerts, festivals, banquets, trade shows, conventions, and convocations. Furthermore, the facility is capable of hosting sophisticated, world-class, networked, information-technology training seminars to major corporate, institutional, and private-sector clients.

The design of the upper level of the Millennium Centre serves the hospitality, conference, and IT training mandate of the facility. Accessible via a decorative, open stairwell, as well as via a barrier-free elevator lift, the upper level is characterized by a semi-circular balcony and ceiling motif, reflecting the geometry of the colonnaded portico. The multiple seating layouts provided by the upper floor IT/hospitality and conference areas, provides flexibility and expansion capacities, access to exterior views, access to arena-viewing opportunities, access to catering services, as well as facilitation of informal gathering/crush areas. Access to the IT/hospitality and conference areas is also afforded from the gallery link to the second floor of the existing Oland Centre. Access is also available from the upper concourse level of the stadium arena.

The upper, west concourse level of the stadium arena provides the primary, fast-food, concession services for arena events. Supplementing the concession service is a view-lounge facility, with fixed seating, overlooking both ice surfaces. The primary washroom facilities are conveniently located in the same general vicinity, so as to minimize travel distances.