City of Waterloo

The Waterloo Recreation Complex consists of a 3,500 seat multipurpose arena, an eight lane, 35 metre swimming pool with a 400 seat gallery, a rolling bulkhead, a moveable floor, a leisure pool with slide, a whirlpool, tots pool, meeting and fitness facilities and a banquet bar area with a view of both the pool and the arena. Extra seating for an additional 2,000 people can be accommodated by temporary bleachers surrounding the rubberized running track which encircles the arena.

HH Angus provided design services for mechanical, electrical, and lighting, as well as contract administration for the construction of the sports complex.

A fully integrated ammonia/brine refrigeration system was installed for ice making and air conditioning, utilizing ice storage. Ice rink compressors were used to charge ice storage tanks for air conditioning, compressor heat recovery for building and pool heating, and airside heat recovery.

The ice making plant is comprised of four 50hp ammonia compressors and a single chiller. Ethylene glycol is distributed to make the ice surface, and the temperature of the ice can be customized to suit ice hockey, figure skating or curling. The ice rink is used 18 hours per day, seven days week, for 46 weeks of the year, and the facility is fully air conditioned.

In addition to maintaining the ice surface, any excess cooling capacity in the ice making plant is used to make ice, which is stored for reducing peak consumption of electricity of the air conditioning cooling plant. The rink also features a vacuum sand filter system,

The Complex was among only ten such facilities in Canada, the United States, Europe, and Australia to be honoured with the 1995 Award of Merit from Athletic Business Magazine.