The 72,000-square-foot Ron and Erma Hawkes Centre for the Arts is set to replace New Brunswick’s Fredericton Playhouse. Inspired by the region’s geography, community, local industry and Indigenous culture, the facility will open in 2027.Supplied/Diamond Schmitt Architects
From a theatre with a singular purpose to a multi-functional community hub, the Ron and Erma Hawkes Centre for the Arts in downtown Fredericton is a generational project defined by community engagement, municipal government support and the importance of the arts.
At two times the size, the 72,000-square-foot Ron and Erma Hawkes Centre for the Arts will replace the Fredericton Playhouse, a 709-seat theatre that opened in the 1960s.
Inspired by the region’s geography, community, local industry and Indigenous culture, the project hit a major milestone in January when the framing of the structure was complete. It’s slated to open in early 2027.
“This really is a generational project for Fredericton,” says Gary McCluskie, principal at Diamond Schmitt, the lead architect behind the project. “There was an intersection of great energy, great design, and the result will be a great facility for the community.”
Need for the arts
The need for a reimagined community-wide arts and cultural hub dates back to 2013.
That is when the City of Fredericton and the Fredericton Playhouse’s executive team conducted a feasibility study that found the performing arts centre was undersized and near the end of its life since it was built more than 50 years ago without long-term considerations for the community.
The city and the theatre’s executive staff determined that replacing it with a new, future-facing facility made more sense for the community than renovating the current theatre.
“Live performance and arts and culture are important for individuals, communities, cities and for society,” says Tim Yerxa, executive director at the Fredericton Playhouse. “Bringing people together to have shared experiences in a room is a powerful form of community building.”
Following an international competition, Diamond Schmitt was chosen as the lead architect. The Toronto-based design firm, known for award-winning projects such as the Emily Carr University of Art + Design and the Innovation Arena at the University of Waterloo, teamed up with Fredericton-based engineering, design and architecture firm EXP.
The project was funded through a combination of municipal, provincial and federal government sources, alongside a now-completed 2½-year, $10-million fundraising campaign backed by private donors. Among the contributions was a transformative $3.5-million gift from New Brunswick couple Ron and Erma Hawkes, after whom the centre was named.
The forthcoming arts and culture centre will be relocated to King and Regent streets in the heart of Fredericton’s Historic Garrison District. The city will divest the current Playhouse building at 686 Queen St. and allocate the proceeds toward the new facility.
The brightly-lit, multi-level lobby has been designed as a space for patrons to congregate. It houses a daytime café and features wood wall panelling to represent the tradition of basket-weaving across the ceiling.Supplied/Diamond Schmitt Architects
A river runs through
Located in the cultural and historic heart of New Brunswick’s capital along the banks of the Saint John River, the 72,000-square-foot facility takes its design inspiration from the river’s flow, which is central to the past and present lives of the region’s inhabitants, Mr. McCluskie says.
“The Saint John River is central to the Wolastoqey Nation’s culture, and it’s central to the industrial and arts culture of not just the City of Fredericton, but of that region of the province.
“The river is so much a part of their psyche. This river that can and still floods became part of the conversation we had about the building’s aesthetic.”
Diamond Schmitt consulted with the local community, especially Wolastoqiyik elders, on the river’s symbolism and how to translate its meaning into the final design of the centre.
“From the undulating glazing on the main facades of the building that mimic the rippling waves and the shards of ice in the frozen river, that landscape became a reference point for all of our design decisions,” Mr. McCluskie says.
The traditions of the Wolastoqiyik, the Indigenous people of the Saint John River valley, whose name means “people of the beautiful river,” are reflected in the design of the building. Their long-standing basket-weaving tradition is represented through woven wood patterns featured in the main performance hall’s acoustic wall panelling and across the lobby ceiling.
From ‘Friday night lights’ to community living room
More than a theatre, the Ron and Erma Hawkes Centre for the Arts is set to become a community hub and inclusive gathering space for locals, artists, musicians and visitors.
One of the most salient features of the new building is its flexibility to match the performer, performance and audience at each show.
Instead of a single-purpose theatre, there are now two formal performance venues: the main hall with an increased capacity of 850, accessible seating and enhanced acoustics. The Wilma Clark Theatre, with 285 retractable seats and a space that can be used for anything – from local dance and theatre performances, to small concerts and corporate events – is on the second and third floors.
“I’m big on context [and] always asking questions such as, ‘Why is this artist doing this show in this room at this time?’” Mr. Yerxa says. “If you have only one room, your hands are tied to presenting just one category of artists.”
A third studio space, a multi-purpose room on the main floor, is located between the back and the front of the house, and will be used for rehearsals, small performances, workshops and community meetups.
“The way I like to describe it is that currently we have one room where people come in, sit down, have an experience and then leave,” Mr. Yerxa says. “A consultant we hired to work on this project a long time ago described this to me as ‘Friday Night Lights’ – that’s the business that we were in. You turn on the marquee, people show up, they leave, and that’s the extent of your engagement with them.”
In contrast, the new Ron and Erma Hawkes Centre for the Arts is being positioned as a “community living room” that features additional spaces of different sizes, all with unique functions.
The multi-level lobby is one of these new flexible spaces. The brightly-lit open area that houses a daytime café was designed as a space for people to congregate and connect with the streetscape.
“The lobby has been designed as a civic gathering space,” Mr. Yerxa says.
Occupying the first and second floors of the Ron and Erma Hawkes Centre for the Arts, the facility’s Main Hall (pictured) contains a capacity of 850, accessible seating and enhanced acoustics.Supplied/Diamond Schmitt Architects
Listening to and learning from the community
The centre’s construction materials are also a nod to the community and New Brunswick’s lumber industry.
Consistent with many of Downtown Fredericton’s heritage buildings and architectural styles, the new centre features exterior brick and interior wood.
Sustainability is also a key priority of the Ron and Erma Hawkes Centre for the Arts.
The project is pursuing certification under the Canada Green Building Council’s Zero Carbon Building Standards, which require the design to meet rigorous energy efficiency criteria and limit embodied carbon – the total greenhouse-gas emissions associated with building materials across their full life cycle. The certification also requires offsetting any remaining emissions through the procurement of vetted, high-quality carbon credits, says Mr. McCluskie.
Due to extensive community consultations, Fredericton’s new cultural arts centre will truly be a place that reflects the values and culture of its locals.
“Even though the new building … is designed by the architects, in large measure, it was also designed by the community,” Mr. Yerxa says.