In an effort to transform downtown Calgary into a more dynamic and comfortable space, Telus, a Canadian telecommunications service provider, approached BIG architects for a multi-functional skyscraper design. The new tower will be located in the heart of the city, next to The Bow high-rise office building, recently built by Norman Foster.
The Telus Sky program, with an area of about 70,000 m2, includes two functions: the office part is located at the bottom, and the residential part at the top. The combination of these two zones is reflected in the volumetric-plastic solution of the building: the tiers of the rectangular volume of the lower, office part, as the tower “grows”, recede from the red line and shift relative to each other and the axis of the entire building, passing into a slender volume of the residential half of the building. According to the architects themselves, the gradual thinning and slight bending of the volume of the building should resemble a graceful female body.
Also, the opposition of two functions in Telus Sky is emphasized by a change in the texture and plasticity of the facades: the smooth glass surface of the office part above turns into a fractional and like a "rough" wall of the residential half thanks to the apartment balconies protruding from the facade in a checkerboard pattern.
The Telus Sky tower is planned to be built by the fall of 2017. Its energy efficiency level will correspond to the LEED Platinum certification. Further implementation of the project will be carried out by its authors, BIG, in cooperation with the Canadian architectural bureau Dialog and partners Westbank Corp, with whom BIG is already working together on the tower.
Beach and Howe.
Nastya Mavrina
