Tacoma Engineers’ Work on Canada Summer Games Sports Facility Wins CFSEI Award

Featured image: Structural cold-formed steel framing at the Walker Sports and Abilities Centre at Canada Games Park in Thorold, Ontario. Project profile courtesy of CFSEI. All photos courtesy of Tacoma Engineers.

The Walker Sports and Abilities Centre at Canada Games Park in Thorold, Ontario, Canada, is a multi-purpose sports facility featuring two NHL-sized ice rinks, a suspended 200 meter indoor track, four gymnasiums, a performance center and offices. Canada Games Park and the Walker Sports and Abilities Centre was a legacy project built for the Niagara 2022 Canada Summer Games.

The building footprint is 212,400 sq. ft. and consists of two main levels. The building shell consists of structural steel framing. The gravity system consists of structural steel beams, columns and open-web steel joists, while the lateral system consists of structural steel braced frames. The roofs of the overhanging canopies are covered with vegetation. 

The Walker Sports and Abilities in Thorold, Ontario, Canada, has large canopies and sloping soffits framed with cold-formed-steel (CFS).

Tacoma Engineers, Inc. won the 2023 CFSEI Design Excellence Award for the cold-formed steel (CFS) engineering on the project, taking second place in the municipal/sports category in the Cold-Formed Steel Engineers Institute’s award competition.

The CFSEI Award entry was submitted by Tacoma Engineers’ Ignac Zajac, P.Eng. M.A. Sc., who was the project’s CFS specialty engineer. Tacoma Engineers received the award for the Canada Summer Games facility at the 2023 CFSEI Expo held recently in New Orleans.

Large Canopies, Sloping Soffits

The Walker Sports and Abilities Centre consists of large overhanging canopies with sloping soffits. The soffits for the overhanging canopies consist of 1½ in. prefinished standing seam metal cladding on 1½ in. metal deck. 

The CFS or metal framing scope of work for the project consists of providing the soffit support for the cladding and metal deck at the overhanging canopies. The metal deck required continuous support at a predetermined spacing.

The Walker Centre soffits for the overhanging canopies consist of 1½ in. prefinished standing seam metal cladding on 1½ in. metal deck.

The soffits consisted of six main areas with a total area of 34,000 sq. ft., with the largest soffit areas being the north and south soffits at over 10,000 sq. ft. each. Each soffit area had unique geometry and sloped in two different directions.

Varied Roof Framing

The CFS framing was supported from the structural steel roof structure only. Complicating the matter was the roof framing, which was different at each soffit area. Some areas consisted of open-web steel joists, while others were HSS trusses or a combination of open-web steel joists and steel beams. 

The roof structure itself was sloped in two different directions, making fit up and connections a challenge. The roof structure was also at a significantly higher elevation than the plane of the soffits requiring all the CFS framing to be suspended from the roof structure by the use of hangers. 

The architectural drawings initially called for CFS framing at 1800 mm o.c. to support the metal deck. The spacing of the roof framing in the larger north and south soffit areas was 2500 mm. 

Tacoma Engineers worked with the soffit supplier, CFS contractor and general contractor to maximize the deck span to span the full spacing of the open-web steel joists, thereby allowing the majority of the CFS sub-framing to be supported from the open-web steel joists without the need for intermediate sub-framing. 

At the other canopy areas, including edge and corner zones, the metal deck required framing at various spans, ranging from 750 mm to 2200 mm o.c. In some instances, the spacing of the roof framing did not match the spacing of the metal deck span and intermediate CFS sub-framing was required.

The roof framing was different at each soffit area. Some areas consisted of open-web steel joists, while others featured HSS trusses and other framing combinations.

Along the edge of the soffit, where localized wind loads were higher and a smaller deck span was required, intermediate support framing was installed in between the existing roof beams.

Soffit Designs

Soffits were designed for wind uplift and suction wind pressures in addition to the soffit dead loads. Lateral loads consisted of wind load on any vertical projections of the soffit assemblies and seismic loads for non-structural components. All loads were in accordance with the Ontario Building Code 2012 R2020.

The general design consisted of providing a continuous steel stud for the metal deck support at various spacings. The continuous stud was supported by a series of hangers at 600 mm – 900 mm o.c. The gauge of the continuous support stud was dictated by the metal deck supplier’s fastening requirements. 

Main Soffits

For the main north and south soffits, the hangers were supported from the bottom chord of the existing open-web steel joists along its main span. Along the edge of the soffit, where localized wind loads were higher and a smaller deck span was required, intermediate support framing was installed in between the existing roof beams.

The CFS framing also had to be thermally isolated from the main building. Due to this constraint, large CFS built up beams and/or cantilevered studs were employed at the building exterior walls where there was no structural steel from which to frame.

Other Canopy Areas

At the other canopy areas, where the roof structural steel did not line up with the metal deck spans, intermediate CFS framing was installed comprising box beams spanning between structural steel to support the hangers.

Along the northwest canopy, the structural steel framing was generally perpendicular to the span of the continuous deck support. 

A series of box beams, both perpendicular and parallel to the deck support were required, based on the existing structural steel from which the CFS could be attached and the requirement to keep the CFS framing thermally isolated from the main building. The slope of the existing open-web steel joists required break formed skewed tracks connected to the bottom chord of the open-web steel joists in order to allow better fit-up in the field. 

In-plane and out-of-plane bracing were used to account for wind and seismic lateral loads. The metal deck provided diaphragm action, allowing the number of braces to be minimized and located to suit field constraints.

Tacoma Engineers’ general CFS framing design consisted of a continuous steel stud for the metal deck support at various spacings.

Eight Field Reviews

A total of eight field reviews were conducted to review the installed framing. Open communication with the CFS contractor was essential in order to address any field issues and provide timely remedial actions to keep the framing installation on schedule.

Read more about Tacoma Engineers’ CFS detailing for the Canada Games Park sport and recreation facility in Thorold, Ontario, here.

Additional Resources

• Cold-Formed Steel Engineers Institute to Hold the 2024 CFSEI Expo in Tucson, Arizona (May 20-22, 2024)
  
• CFSEI Publishes Tech Note on Cold-Formed Steel Shear Wall Design for Wind and Seismic Forces
• CFSEI Publishes Technical Note on Strap Braced Wall Design, Loose Strap Considerations