Award

88 | D E C E M B E R 2 0 2 4 Fourth Street Lofts R EN D ER I N GS CO U RT E S Y GGA-A RC H I T EC T U R E FOURTH STREET LOFTS by ROBIN BRUNET F or many patrons, Red's Diner on Fourth Street in Calgary (in the 1928 brick Queen's Dressmaker's studio) makes the best breakfast in the city. It's a beloved neighbourhood institution, but it doesn't have heritage status. Yet, when Western Securities decided to redevelop Williams Block in which the eatery is located, Red's was preserved – and inspired the design of the new Fourth Street Lofts that now occupies the site. Consisting of 272 apartments and 3,500 square feet of new retail space, Fourth Street Lofts is described by Fergal Duff, SVP development and con- struction at Western Securities, as "a modern, edgy apartment building that maintains the historical charm of the Beltline district. With a walk score that is off the charts, it is the perfect fit for a youthful demographic, close enough to walk to work downtown and sur- rounded by restaurant and nightlife, while enjoying views of the mountains." Early on, GGA-Architecture was retained for the project, having worked with Western Securities on the master plan and overall design of UXBorough, a revitalization of the Stadium Shopping Centre lands in the northwest part of Calgary. "When we conducted the initial public consul- tations for Fourth Street Lofts, it was immediately obvious that the commu- nity had a deep love for Red's Diner, so even though it wasn't a heritage struc- ture, we treated it as such," says Mike Brescia, partner at Western Securities. Jonny Hehr, partner at GGA, says, "The retention of Red's set up the design language inasmuch as it acted as an anchor for the new develop- ment and motivated us to complement instead of mimic the old brick struc- ture, by creating a street level black brick and steel structure beside it that responds to its scale and the street." Thanks to this approach, the outside brick wall of Red's Diner became the interior wall for the retail space. Black and white patterning for the tower provided a timeless graphic statement in the urban landscape, with black brick as another unifying element extending from the retail lev- els up to the tower on all of the patios and on the north side of the tower, from the second floor to the top. Yet another nod to existing neigh- bourhood aesthetics was a mural called 'After the Flood' that had been painted on the exterior of a Williams BlockWinston Manor, an old apartment building scheduled for demolition to make way for the tower. "The art- ist used to live in an apartment above Red's Diner, so we hope to retain him to create a new mural, approved by the city, that will adorn Fourth Street Lofts," Hehr says. A second mural will be painted for the top of the tower. Special focus was paid to artic- ulating the lane running through Williams Block. "We pulled our build- ing back enough to create a six-stall parking area for retail during the win- ter; the same space can be converted into an outdoor patio during the sum- mer, activating the laneway as an urban space," Hehr says. Construction began in the spring of 2023 with Red's Diner continu- ing to operate. Special care was taken to ensure the parkade space didn't undermine the foundations of the diner, which required the eatery to be equipped with new services. Complex shoring was also required after ITC Construction Group hit bed- rock early in the excavation. "But ITC is very well versed in dealing with such challenges, and we're anticipat- ing the entire project to be completed by next July," Hehr says, adding that construction has been aided by the fact that above the lofts, the floor plates of the tower are the same, enabling a rapid pace of completion. Custom Metal Contracting's panels division supplied Fourth Street's exte- rior cladding, including 15,000 square feet of its Series 20 ACP System, 8,000 square feet of corrugated cladding, 1,000 square feet of Longboard siding, and architectural louvers. As of October, the lower floors of the project were nearing completion. Brescia says, "This was a challeng- ing project but we had an incredible architect and construction crew that achieved our goal of marrying old and new elements in a beautiful way." Hehr concludes, "Family-owned Western Securities is very mindful of being good neighbours wherever they build, and Fourth Street Lofts is a prime example of that." A LOCATION 508 15 Avenue SW, Calgary, Alberta OWNER /DEVELOPER Western Securities ARCHITECT GGA-Architecture GENER AL CONTR ACTOR ITC Construction Group STRUCTUR AL CONSULTANT Entuitive MECHANICAL CONSULTANT Reinbold Engineering Group ELECTRICAL CONSULTANT Nemetz (S/A) & Associates Ltd. INTERIOR DESIGN METAFOR TOTAL SIZE 60,500 square feet (including Red's Diner) TOTAL COST Undisclosed

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