Four Seasons Pool design team working to stay within $35 million budget

Designs for the new Four Seasons Pool require finding harmony between beauty and budget, according to its new architect.

During a 2017 referendum, 62% of participating voters elected for the City to borrow the funds necessary to build the new pool, which will be located at the site of the Former Days Inn Hotel.

The city announced today (Thurs) that HDR Architecture Association and Chandos Construction will be leading as architect and construction manager on the project.  

For them, both the uniqueness of the project and staying within the estimated $35 million mark are of high importance.

“We see in Canadian communities that recreation is one of the keys to the vibrancy of the city, so we think this project is a catalyst to help Prince George in its ongoing journey. Like lots of projects, we have to balance the notion of something that architecturally is terrific and makes people proud with a budget that we have to be responsible to; it’s a classic challenge of building an aquatic centre,” said Mark Hantze, Vice President of HDR.       

Dominic Ries, Director of Technical Solutions for Chandos, said part of being a responsible design team is meeting with operators, owners and user groups.

“At the end of the day, we want something that is going to work for you and is not going to be too complicated. We can put in really complicated systems, but does it make sense to do that?”

“We keep it real, because every time you make a change that’s going to be a little bit different, the cost will escalate. For us, every time we build a building we know that we are changing the cityscape, the landscape, and we want to be proud of the installation. In essence, we want to come back and say we’ve changed the skyline and are proud of it,” said Ries. 

The Four Seasons will remain open until the new pool is ready for use. You can find more information on the referendum that voted it in here.