Icelandic architect firm Batteríid and Cibinel Architects in Winnipeg have been hired to design a new 9,500-square-meter, four-story fitness center by the University of Manitoba sports school. The building is scheduled to open in 2013 and the project is expected to cost approximately USD 30 million (EUR 23 million).
Batteríid and Cibinel were chosen from a group of applicants and will work on the design together. The firms have hired Canadian engineers as consultants on the project, Morgunbladid reports.
Jón Ólafur Ólafsson, architect and co-owner of Batteríid, said the drafts are now being worked on and the actual design work will begin next autumn.
The fitness center will have open training facilities as well as closed exercise rooms and a special hall for the school’s sports clubs. There will also be room for a large climbing wall and a 200-meter running track on the top floor, along with office facilities.
Ólafsson said the project strengthens his firm’s operations as there has not been much for architects to do in Iceland since the banking collapse in 2008.
“Turnover from overseas projects amounts to almost 30 percent of the operations this year,” Ólafsson said. His firm is also involved in projects in Gimli, Manitoba, and in Norway.
