Canada's first stacked five-arena complex opens Tuesday in Langley Township

Langley Township is welcoming Canada's first-of-its-kind stacked five-arena complex to the region. ARENAS at Langley Events Centre holds a grand opening ceremony on the evening of Sept. 9, with the facility now finishing final touches ahead of its first users.

The approximately 260,000-square-foot expansion — roughly 400,000 square feet when underground parking is included — sits immediately east of the existing Langley Events Centre. The design stacks two permanent dry-floor arenas above two of three NHL-sized ice rinks on the lower level. The upper arenas will provide year-round space for sports such as lacrosse and ball hockey.

Local sports groups challenged Township of Langley Mayor Eric Woodward about four years ago to deliver the facility, a challenge he accepted. The vertical arrangement solved major structural challenges while saving significant costs and land. Stacking the dry floors saved roughly two acres that would otherwise have been required to spread the arenas across a larger area of Willoughby Community Park — avoiding an estimated $20 million in costs to purchase additional land.

Cascadian Structural Engineering, which worked on the project, describes the stacked arena complex as the first of its kind in Canada. The suspended arenas are supported by steel structures spanning approximately 40 metres, combining long-span steel trusses with overhanging concrete shear walls to provide the required floor spans while resisting seismic loads. The elevated dry floors were deliberately designed to remain dry rather than routinely converted to ice; adding the sand, insulation, refrigeration piping, and other layers required for an ice slab would have greatly increased the weight of the suspended floors and roughly doubled the cost of that part of the structure.

The largest of the three ice arenas has about 1,200 fixed seats and a total capacity of approximately 1,575 people when standing areas along the perimeter are included. It was designed to accommodate larger spectator events, such as the final games of provincial tournaments. Eight future suites have been roughed in, and production and broadcast spaces will support live event coverage. Each of the other four arenas has seating for roughly 300 people.