Performing Arts Centre
Natural building space for the performing arts
2008 Sustainable Building & Design project
The municipality of Centre Hastings had an old baseball diamond in a corner of a downtown park that was quickly becoming a revitalized community hub featuring a skate park, playground and splash pad. The community wanted to add a performing arts space featuring indoor and outdoor stages to provide a cultural venue for the town.
The building celebrates the town’s rich natural resources, with almost every material for the building coming from a 50 km radius of the site. Local hemp, timber, clay and stone feature prominently in the unique octagonal structure that has become a much-loved fixture in the town.
Unique structural system made from round hemp bales and earth plaster
Earthbag foundation system with rammed earth tire piers
Straw bale, hempcrete, straw/clay and recycled denim insulation
Rammed earth floor slab with geothermal hydronic heating and floating wood floors
Green roof and round timber frame cover for outdoor stage area
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