YMCA Camp Ki-Wa-Y Children’s Washroom

⟵ || ⟶

⟵

1 / 4

⟶

YMCA Camp Ki-Wa-Y Children’s Washroom // St. Clements, ON

A sensitive approach to shared space – scaled for young users

At a seasonal YMCA children’s camp set deep within the forested landscape of southwestern Ontario, a quiet intervention brings architectural intent to a building type often dismissed as peripheral. The new washroom facility at Camp Ki-Wa-Y replaces an aging structure with something both more resilient and more respectful, designed not only to serve but to affirm the value of its youngest users.

Too often, buildings for children are reduced to the merely functional. This project takes another approach. It assumes that even the smallest users perceive space, proportion, and atmosphere, and that good design, however subtle, is never lost on them.

The design works within clear constraints. Bound to the footprint of two previous structures, the facility is divided into two volumes, connected by a covered central corridor. This limitation becomes a spatial strategy. The open-air passage introduces light, airflow, and the scent of the forest, acting as both threshold and gathering space. It allows the architecture to remain open, breathable, and connected to its setting.

An overhead beam above the entry on both sides of the corridor operates as an architectural lintel, quietly framing a threshold and defining the transition space, lending spatial weight to the act of passage. The corridor’s semi-outdoor nature provides shelter while framing the landscape and keeping campers connected to their surroundings, offering protection from the rain without disconnecting from wind or sky.

Clad in muted black siding, the two structures recede into the surrounding landscape. Roofs are angled for gravity-fed drainage, with no eavestroughs or downpipes, allowing rainwater to fall cleanly from the edge. In heavy rain, the runoff becomes a living screen, ephemeral, kinetic, and quietly immersive.

Inside, the layout includes universal and accessible facilities, carefully scaled for children and teenagers. The design of the finishes and fixtures is durable and easy to maintain, but never indifferent. Material choices favour simplicity and clarity, considering economy factors while creating a calm, legible environment that supports safety and ease of use.

Considerable care was taken in the execution of the design intention, with the aim of ensuring that each gesture, from drainage details to spatial sequencing, was realized with integrity. Rather than rely on bright colours or exaggerated forms, the building expresses care through proportion, light, and sequence. A central corridor becomes a spatial moment. A clean roofline becomes an invitation to observe water in motion. These are not statements, but subtle gestures, reminding us that children do notice design, especially when it is honest and made with care.

By resisting the notion that utility justifies indifference, the project quietly affirms a deeper value: that design excellence can and should extend to all users, all programs, and all corners of the built environment.

_

_