Just in time for the Calgary Stampede, BIG presented its design for a new architectural landmark for one of Canada's leading telecommunication companies TELUS in Calgary’s downtown core. The 750,000 square foot tower creates a dynamic community by blending urban living and working seamlessly. Located at 7th Avenue block, BIG’s design for the mixed-use tower will reshape the area into one of the most technologically innovative and environmentally-friendly sites in North America. In BIG’s design the program -incorporating office, residential and retail space- accommodates the transformation from working to living as the tower takes off from the ground to reach the sky. Bjarke Ingels explains: “Downtown Calgary has developed as a typical North American city center with a cluster of corporate towers surrounded by a periphery of low density surburban homes. The Telus Sky is an attempt to create a lively mixture of living and working at the intersection of lightrail and arterial roads in the heart of the center, to help create a more varied and walkable city center for Calgary.“ The large floor plates for workplaces recede to achieve the slender dimensions of residential floor depths. The texture of the façade in a similar fashion evolves from a smooth glass façade enclosing the work space to a 3 dimensional composition of apartments and balconies. The resultant silhouette expresses the unification of the two programs in a single gesture – in rational straight lines composed to form a feminine figure. “The TELUS team is tremendously proud of our longstanding history in Alberta and thrilled to announce the development of TELUS Sky, which will stand as a lasting symbol of our passionate commitment to the Calgary community, our customers, our team members and to the province of Alberta,” said Darren Entwistle, TELUS President and CEO. “Our new development is a powerful contribution to Calgary’s economic strength, culture and social vitality. Notably, TELUS Sky will inject millions of dollars into the community and create hundreds of local jobs while showcasing TELUS' advanced communications technologies and environmental innovation in a way never before seen in Calgary. Moreover, TELUS Sky will enrich the city’s vibrant arts culture by offering inspiring public spaces that will exhibit works of art by local artists, thus creating a truly amazing destination for our team members, the community and indeed all Albertans.”
TELUS Sky, scheduled for completion in the fall of 2017, will be a LEED Platinum signature development. For this project BIG will collaborate with the Canadian architecture firm Dialog, along with partners developer Westbank Corp with whom BIG is already collaborating upon the Beach & Howe Tower in Vancouver and real estate investment trust Allied Properties.
