A building of modest means anchors a gateway site downtown on the former rail terminus where a roundhouse once stood. At 2,300 m², the Youth & Family Centre and its adjacent park are conceived as two halves of one whole, connected to the Coal Town Trail on the former rail easement. Together they establish a civic focus at the heart of the community. The building unites childcare, recreation, skateboarding, a community kitchen, café, multipurpose rooms, and social services in a barrier-free facility targeting Rick Hansen Foundation Accessibility Certification. A low-carbon building, the project aims to set a precedent, demonstrating an alternate path for community facilities of this scale and modest budget. Designed to meet Zero Carbon Building – Design Standard, the Centre leverages light-wood framing and tilt-up concrete—two trades readily available in Cape Breton—pushed beyond conventional roles to deliver architectural ambition and measurable reductions in embodied carbon.