Genevieve E. Yates Memorial Centre Renewal

The Genevieve E. Yates Memorial Centre has been a Lethbridge landmark since its construction in 1966, with intricate brickwork—the best in the city—bookending a broad curved span of glass. When adding two elevator towers to this iconic façade, SAinc knew that concentrating on the masonry was key to integrating the towers into the strength of the original design.
Each tower has a glazed front sandwiched between two 12-inch brick walls placed 5 feet off the face of the building. The towers’ masonry side walls are intentionally aligned to create a sense of extension from the pilasters that bookend the original brickwork. The butt end of the new walls further expresses this connection, “answering” recessed brick in the pilasters with protruding bricks at a matching depth. To draw attention to the original design’s quilt of decorative bonds, the towers’ masonry patterns are restrained, only picking up the zig-zag running pattern every 6th course. In contrast, the entry side of the towers, which is more removed from the 1960s brick, is more contemporary. Here the accents maintain their 6th row coursing, but we have simplified the zig-zag pattern by solely angling bricks toward the centreline of the building, which has the effect of beckoning patrons into the theatre.