Porsche ‘Experience Centre’ coming to Durham Live property in Pickering
Published November 3, 2021 at 1:32 pm
A Porsche ‘Experience Centre’ that will include a two-kilometre driving circuit is coming to the Durham Live entertainment complex in Pickering in 2024.
The Pickering facility, which will take up 20 acres of land, is the tenth such ‘Experience Centre’ in the world and third in North America, following the openings of centers in Atlanta and Los Angeles.
With its proposed location adjacent to the Pickering Casino, which already is home – or soon will be – to 400,000 square feet of retail, a concert hall and a luxury 300-room hotel, the facility is being billed as Porsche’s first ‘urban’ Experience Centre.
The Porsche Experience Centre will be a brand park and major tourist destination where visitors can experience vehicle dynamics, technology, and the emotion of Porsche sportscars first-hand with expert guidance from instructors through various driving modules all year long and within a 30-minute drive of downtown Toronto.
It will include the driving circuit, which will allow customers and fans to immerse themselves in the world of the brand regardless of whether they own a Porsche or not. Visitors will also be able to see current and historic exhibition vehicles, stop by the café, and browse the Porsche shop.
“The Porsche is more than just a car. Porsche is a promise for a unique brand and product experience and since the first opening in Silverstone in 2008, our Porsche Experience Centers are the best way to get this promise,” said Detlev von Platen, Member of the Executive Board for Sales and Marketing at Porsche AG, clearly preaching to the choir. “Nowhere else in the automotive industry, the soul of our sportscars can be lived that way. I couldn’t be happier that we can now announce the tenth location of its kind in Toronto – the fastest-growing city in North America with an ever-greater community of Porsche fans.”
Electric vehicle charging infrastructure will be incorporated in the Experience Centre’s plan and a greater emphasis is being placed on using the most environmentally responsible layout for the design, build, and operation.
Global design, architecture, engineering and planning firm HOK are designing the building and incorporating innovative technologies focused on sustainability. The company is known for projects such as the Dalí museum in St. Petersburg, Florida, La Guardia Airport Terminal B, as well as the Porsche Cars of North America Atlanta Headquarters.
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