Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/1274063
J U LY 2 0 2 0 | 67 TELUS Sky R EN D ER I N GS CO U RT E SY W E S T BA N K D owntown Calgary is ripe for architectural expression in the commercial realm, and a mixed-use skyscraper in the heart of the city is poised to play a significant role in creating a more people-ori- ented community. The LEED Platinum TELUS Sky, designed by Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), is a 750,000-square-foot tower whose envelope begins with smooth glass on the lower levels and rises to a tapering, torquing series of residential balco- nies, the entirety of the glazing on the north and south facades covered in LED "pixels." The cumulative effect is that of a new 58-storey landmark on the city's skyline, serving the dual purpose of workspace and residential. Westbank describes TELUS Sky as "the contin- uation of the design philosophy of Gesamtkunstwerk – Total Work of Art – that began with Vancouver House," the mixed-use project in Vancouver also designed by BIG. Westbank's goal for TELUS Sky was to disrupt Calgary's downtown, which it describes as "largely characterized by conventional corporate high rises." The building's unique form, as Bjarke Ingels explains, stems from a design "shaped by its double program of living and working; the compact volume for working slimming to become a slender tower for living. The inherent alter- nate nature of the tower's insides are expressed and revealed on its outside." Westbank refers to the design pro- cess as "a dialogue" that began with partners Allied Properties REIT, TELUS, and Westbank providing a design brief to BIG; in addition to the 326 residential suites and 430,000 square feet of office/retail space, 155,000 square feet will become TELUS' Calgary Head office. The proj- ect also creates a 5,500-square-foot public gallery designed to contribute to Calgary's expanding artistic and cultural landscape. Two gardens were designed: a rooftop garden and a ver- tical garden located at the ground level in the form of a greenwall rising in the 11-storey atrium, that serves as an entrance and connection point with the building next door. Hindle Architects principal Jesse Hindle partnered with TELUS early on to determine its workplace needs. Hindle ultimately was responsible for undertaking 150,000 square feet of tenant improvements for the commu- nications giant, from levels four to 10 and for its executive hosting spaces on the top two levels. Of the latter, Hindle says, "Levels 59 and 60 were double and triple height respectively, and the top level con- nects to the rooftop garden." Hindle goes on to credit TELUS for being "a great, collaborative client, and we were able to achieve many visually important features," he says. "For example, TELUS's office floors connect to each other and a 10-storey atrium via feature staircases, and we oriented the company's social spaces towards the atrium to maximize the sense of space and openness." As the start of construction in February of 2015 neared, the build- ers and engineers realized bringing TELUS Sky to life would be as challeng- ing as its sister structure Vancouver House. Anthony El-Araj, a princi- pal at Glotman Simpson Consulting Engineers, explains, "The structural framing of the tower's unique geom- etry of pixelated expression and slab terracing required attention in order for the structure to function seam- lessly within the multi-use spaces." The decision was made to place col- umns around the perimeter of each floor and follow the geometry of the building, meaning they would "walk in" as they stepped up. This meant that ICON West Construction had to correct the horizontal thrust of these columns by transferring the loads into the shear walls. "A unique shear wall layout was used for the entire build- ing that provided adequate stiffness and strength for the induced loading demands from both the wind and the horizontal thrust loads of the walking columns," says El-Araj. "Two differ- ent lateral schemes were implemented to fit within the intended building programming. Conventional shear wall cores frame the elevator banks on the lower parking and office lev- els, whereas on the upper residential floors a combination of a small core wall and wing walls were used. The seven underground parking levels sat on bedrock, and ultra-high strength concrete (110 MPa) plus com- posite structural steel and concrete LOCATION 685 Centre St. SW, Calgary, Alberta (Commercial) 655 Centre St. SW, Calgary, Alberta (Residential) OWNER /DEVELOPER Westbank ARCHITECT Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) ARCHITECT OF RECORD DIALOG GENER AL CONTR ACTOR ICON West Construction STRUCTUR AL CONSULTANT Glotman Simpson Consulting Engineers MECHANICAL /ELECTRICAL CONSULTANT Smith + Anderson ENERGY/LEED CONSULTANT Integral Group ENVIRONMENTAL CONSULTANT 3 Point Environmental L ANDSCAPE ARCHITECT PFS Studio WORKPL ACE CONSULTANCY Hindle Architects TOTAL SIZE 750,000 square feet TOTAL COST Undisclosed TELUS SKY by ROBIN BRUNET columns were used to reduce the size of the structure and maximize the number of parking stalls in the tight space provided. The tower's office floors were out- fitted with under-floor displacement ventilation systems for maximum air quality, while four-pipe horizontal fan coil units with ECM motors were specified for the residential suites. The building's design allows rainwater to be collected from the roof and re-used for the roof top garden, and storm- water in the rest of the building to be piped to a storage tank in the parkade for future re-use (atypical for Calgary). All of the building systems were integrated into a central automation system to achieve maximum energy efficiency, and a portion of the roof supported a solar array that will pro- duce 32,000 kWh/yr and feed into the building's power systems (TELUS Sky will use 35 percent less energy than similar sized developments, with plans to further improve energy efficiency to a goal of 80 percent less energy). As a final, spectacular touch, author/ artist Doug Coupland was brought in by Westbank to create Northern Lights, a 160,000-square-foot LED- based art installation comprising 600 custom bulbs that wrap around the window frames of the building's north and south facades to create a canvas of pixels forming an infinite number of patterns and colour displays. Bjarke Ingels concludes, "The TELUS Sky is an attempt to create a lively mixture of living and working at the intersection of light rail and arterial roads in the heart of down- town, to help create a more varied and walkable city centre for Calgary." A 9:24 AM