St. Vital Park Staff House

In 2020, the City of Winnipeg engaged 1x1 architecture to design a new Garage & Staff House at St. Vital Park. The project is located within a small open area adjacent to the park exit that was previously used to store maintenance materials such as firewood, mulch, and equipment. The new maintenance facility includes a 3900 sq.ft. building and approximately 20,000 sq.ft. of gated works yard.

The project is sited to minimize its impact on existing trees and public walking paths through the park. The building consists of two rectangular volumes: a taller garage and a lower staff house. The garage is clad with black standing seam metal panels and contains a wash bay, water truck filling station, and secure tool storage area. The staff house holds a small reception area, lunchroom, locker room, washrooms, a shower, and two office spaces.

The staff house is angled slightly away from the garage, connected only by an entrance vestibule featuring floor to ceiling glazing. This results in exterior spaces in-between the two volumes. The staff house roof continues over these exterior spaces to create a protected and inviting entrance at the front of the building, and an outdoor space for staff to eat lunch and hold meetings at the back. The staff house is finished with black metal panels and thermally modified wood siding. The wood siding gives a sense of warmth and helps the building to blend into its natural surroundings. The siding is also featured on the underside of the exterior canopies and on interior ceilings and walls, giving a sense of continuity through the building from the outdoors.

On the front and side of the staff house, vertical black metal ‘fins’ are evenly spaced and break up the horizontal wood siding. The roof continues over these fins to provide covered areas for exterior firewood storage, allowing the maintenance materials to become part of the building’s façade.

Client: City of Winnipeg

Type: Industrial

Construction Value: 2.15M

Date of Completion: Feb 2024

Area: 361sm (3886sf)

Consultant Team

Prime Consultant: 1x1 architecture inc.

Structural: Crosier Kilgour

Mechanical: Nova 3

Electrical: Nova 3

Civil: Sison Blackburn

Photography: Lisa Stinner-Kun

Filed under Commercial Industrial