On a hot summer Thursday, a crowd of parents gathered on a bench at Churchill Meadows Park in Mississauga, Ontario. As they rested with their backs against the glazed wall of the site’s newly completed community center, watching their kids in the adjacent playground, they were protected by an airy overhang on the building’s west facade that serves as a shading device, shielding them from the intensity of the sun without blocking its light. This 200-foot-long expanse of aluminum mesh, supported by spruce glulam (GLT) framing, runs along the whole length of the building—a heroic gesture that’s also thoroughly hospitable.

A sculptural standing-seam metal skin on the east side faces vehicular traffic. Photo © Scott Norsworthy, click to enlarge.