{"id":13368,"date":"2015-02-20T16:15:00","date_gmt":"2015-02-20T16:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/architizer.wpengine.com\/telus-sky-tower\/"},"modified":"2022-05-31T11:50:55","modified_gmt":"2022-05-31T15:50:55","slug":"telus-sky-tower","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/architizer.com\/blog\/practice\/details\/telus-sky-tower\/","title":{"rendered":"TELUS Sky Tower: BIG\u2019s Canadian Adventure Begins in Calgary"},"content":{"rendered":"

BIG\u2019s brand of hedonistic sustainability<\/a> is coming to Calgary, with the firm\u2019s mixed-use skyscraper \u2014 the 57-story TELUS Sky Tower \u2014 breaking ground in the city\u2019s downtown quarter last week. The project is being realized in collaboration with local practice Dialog, and is slated for completion in the fall of 2017.<\/p>\n

The high-rise attempts to merge the two primary architectural typologies currently dominant in Calgary: low-rise suburban housing and corporate office blocks in downtown. By stacking residential units on top of commercial and retail space, BIG is aiming to create a \u201cprogrammatically diversified city<\/a>\u201d to spur activity within the city center throughout the day.<\/p>\n

\n\t\n\t\n<\/div>\n\n

The TELUS Sky Tower by night.<\/i><\/p>\n

In keeping with the firm\u2019s signature design process, this programmatic brief was translated formally with the use of a storyboard sequence of diagrams, illustrating the grafting of houses upon offices in two defiantly simple steps: the \u2018stack\u2019 and the \u2018blend\u2019 lead to a rectilinear building with a subtly sensual wave in its upper reaches. As BIG puts it, \u201cThe resultant silhouette expresses the unification of the two programs in a single gesture \u2014 in rational straight lines composed to form a feminine figure.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\n\t\n<\/div>\n\n

If you are experiencing a strange sense of d\u00e9j\u00e0-vu, that might be because you have already cast your eye over renders of BIG\u2019s other Canadian high-rise commission. Set for completion a few months after TELUS, the Beach + Howe Tower<\/a> in Vancouver is essentially an inverse of their design for Calgary, and may give rise to accusations that their approach to architectural shape-making is becoming overtly formulaic<\/p>\n

\n\t\n\t\n<\/div>\n\n

TELUS Sky Tower (left) and Vancouver’s Howe+Beach Tower (right)<\/i><\/p>\n

The differences in constraints and formal drivers between these two projects become clear upon closer inspection, so the less cynical amongst us can put the similarities down to coincidence. In any case, the twisting Telus Tower looks set to nestle comfortably alongside Foster + Partners\u2019 Bow Tower<\/a>, complementing its glazed neighbor\u2019s curves and providing much needed housing<\/a> in the heart of the city.<\/p>\n

The modular nature of the building\u2019s upper half facilitates covered balconies for residents, and the skyscraper will be topped off by a roof garden \u2014 presumably planted with incredibly hardy flora that are capable of surviving at altitude during Calgary\u2019s cool and crisp winter season.<\/p>\n

\n\t\n\t\n<\/div>\n\n

The pixelated upper reaches have integrated private balconies for residents.<\/i><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the extensive use of glazing on a residential structure in this climate will have some questioning the building\u2019s energy efficiency; one commenter on ArchDaily mused<\/a> that Bjarke Ingels is \u201cbig on the \u2018hedonistic,’ small on the \u2018sustainability.’\u201d However, the firm has assured us that the design will be green in the extreme, with a LEED Platinum rating expected on completion.<\/p>\n

A glazed canopy along the street front \u2014 facing the C-Train route, Calgary\u2019s light rail system \u2014 appears rather disconnected from the bulk of the building, an inhibited iteration of Frank Gehry\u2019s flamboyant glass fa\u00e7ade at the Art Gallery of Ontario<\/a> in Toronto. However, other features at ground level show more promise: A vertical garden doubles up as an entry atrium, opening up the foot of the tower to the building next door.<\/p>\n

\n\t\n\t\n<\/div>\n\n

Ground level glazed canopy with adjacent entrance atrium.<\/i><\/p>\n

Taken as a whole, BIG\u2019s Calgary debut is poised to be a positive addition to the city\u2019s skyline, primarily due to a coherent mixed-use program that introduces diversity to downtown, which the city has been clamoring for in recent years. Its sweeping, sculptural form \u2014 a playful blend of modernism and critical regionalism \u2014 will divide opinion amongst the critics, but Bjarke Ingels will not mind too much as long as his client and the eventual residents are satisfied.<\/p>\n

\n\t\n\t\n<\/div>\n\n

TELUS Sky within the context of Calgary’s skyline.<\/i><\/p>\n

This firm continues to goes out of its way to eschew pretentious archispeak and convoluted urban theory, willfully presenting the design process in a way that just about anyone can understand<\/a>. Whether everyone buys into the process of formal manipulation is another matter \u2014 but for now, BIG is continuing to make waves in the world of contemporary architecture across the globe.<\/p>\n

Yours hedonistically,<\/p>\n

The Angry Architect<\/p>\n

All images via Bjarke Ingels Group<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BIG\u2019s brand of hedonistic sustainability is coming to Calgary, with the firm\u2019s mixed-use skyscraper \u2014 the 57-story TELUS Sky Tower \u2014 breaking ground in the city\u2019s downtown quarter last week. The project is being realized in collaboration with local practice Dialog, and is slated for completion in the fall of 2017. The high-rise attempts to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":66,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"architizer_featured_type":"projects","architizer_featured_image":"1096103","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,2],"tags":[31],"architizer_project":[],"architizer_brand":[],"architizer_firm":[],"architizer_product":[],"class_list":["post-13368","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-details","category-practice","tag-opinion"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nTELUS Sky Tower: BIG\u2019s Canadian Adventure Begins in Calgary - Architizer Journal<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/architizer.com\/blog\/practice\/details\/telus-sky-tower\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"TELUS Sky Tower: BIG\u2019s Canadian Adventure Begins in Calgary - Architizer Journal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"BIG\u2019s brand of hedonistic sustainability is coming to Calgary, with the firm\u2019s mixed-use skyscraper \u2014 the 57-story TELUS Sky Tower \u2014 breaking ground in the city\u2019s downtown quarter last week. 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