In 2006 we were invited by Multi Sport International to be part of the team developing the 800-acre site for a world class Multi-Sport Complex. The Complex was part high-end competition, training and event facility, and part hospitality and wellness complex, this highly specialized village was designed to exceed LEEDS environmental building standards, while also creating space optimized for health and performance.
Unlike any other facility in North America, the "Multi Sport Centre" was designed to provide elite athletes the best of all worlds with multiple Olympic-level competition venues, complete with satellite wired media centers all developed right next to an athletes’ village that featured state-of-the-art training and therapeutic facilities designed to support a wide spectrum of sports medicine and holistic wellness services as well as exceptional lodging and hotel facilities and full time International Sports Development School.
The Eco Fit (athletes) Village was our focus, and brought all the support services for athletes together within the complex, with the training and wellness center located adjacent to specialized accommodations which were crafted as restorative space - designed to optimize rest and relaxation while enhancing athlete’s health and performance.
Designed as an elite training facility for professional and Olympic-level athletes, the facilities would also be utilized for sports events and by private sports-focused school programs. The detailed plans for this complex have not been released to the public yet, however here is a sneak-peak at the site plan for our Eco Fit Village.
The Eco Fit Village is designed to support and enhance peak performance from athletes by adding health-improving design elements, while eliminating health suppressing elements. The Eco Fit Village is a passive-solar design which provides all its own heating and cooling. Accommodations are provided by a complex of studio apartments that incorporate some very special features.
The athletes’ cafeteria was designed with a rooftop greenhouse and a state-of-the-art kitchen. The facilities of the Eco Fit Village section was designed to integrate with an adjacent "Sport Development Complex" featuring a full-time international sports education campus, with educational and training facilities for a private college providing high-school to university level curriculums in conjunction with high-level competitive sports training.
The accommodations are designed to optimize physical and mental performance. Each studio suite features full-spectrum evening lighting, with natural daylight from skylights and windows during the day.
The rooms are all EMF-shielded, and provided with clean solar-power electricity. The drinking water supply is 5-stage reverse osmosis water which removes all toxins including fluoride and chlorine.
The Bathroom faucets are fitted with carbon filters that remove the chlorine from bath/shower water. Direct fresh air is available to every room and the central interior air supply is HEPA Filtered to remove all pollutants.
Only Zero VOC paints and finishes are used, and all-natural construction materials provide an optimum zero-toxin environment. Every room includes special beds and lighting that support deep sleep, and an infrared sauna, inversion table and rebounder support detoxing and accelerate recovery cycles.
The onsite hotel was also supplied by rooftop greenhouses and permaculture edible forest landscaping that surrounded the site providing a fresh supply of organic vegetables and fruit for optimal health and delicious meal options. All the dining facilities in the complex are to be supervised by a sports dietitian who could provide custom dietary regimes for the athletes and fine dining solutions for guests of the hotel.
Throughout the entire site the edible forest landscape creates not only a beautiful natural vista but loads of productive perennial edible vegetation providing a great deal of organic produce for the onsite kitchens. Where ever possible we utilized recycled and repurposed materials throughout the facilities and the grounds landscape design to greatly reduce the environmental impact of the complex. Even the driveways, parking lots and walking paths were surfaced with a material made from recycled tires which gave a cushioned impact yet maintaining high durability.
This is a billion-dollar project involved the engagement and participation of a vast mosaic of partners. Earthworks was contracted to co-ordinate the design of several components of the complex including the wellness and hospitality facilities of the Eco Fit Village, as well as the educational facilities for the college and the permaculture landscape design for the 800-acre grounds. This world-class facility will be the largest and most comprehensive sports complex in the Americas, and the first in the world - designed from the ground-up with sustainability at the forefront of the development criteria.
Our relatively small portion of the design work represents the largest design project we've undertaken, involving specialists and consultants from four continents before all the designs were complete. The Multi-Sport Complex has been in the works for well over ten years, and the design process we were in charge of took our team over three of those years to complete. The project has now moved to the final approval stages, aligning government agencies with funding and operational partners.
The Eco Fit Village is a perfect example of a specialized optimal-health and performance-driven intentional community, designed for a highly demanding purpose.
