Award

august 2015 | 99 Fox towers - Fox One renderings courtesy of kennedy architecture Fox Towers - Fox One by robin brunet L angham Developments Limited, which in 14 years of operation has become known as one of Edmonton's most reputable high-rise builders, was instru- mental in facilitating the rejuvenation of that city's downtown 104 Street with the Icon Towers, completed in 2010. The rejuvenation continues in 2015, with the first portion of Langham's Fox Towers project nearing completion just one block further along the same street. Fox One is the first of two condomin- ium towers – a striking white and glass edifice sitting atop a five-storey brick podium that was designed to ref lect the historic nature of the neighbour- hood and house retail shops, restau- rant and businesses. With 142 units on 28 f loors, Fox One provides a wide mix of floor plans. Additionally, the tower was designed with zero-obstruction sightlines, mean- ing every occupant will enjoy clear views from the generously large win- dows in each suite. Langham Developments president Reza Mostashari says the Fox Towers proj- ect "is in some ways similar to Icon, but I like to think of it as an upgraded version of that development. We and the architect spent a lot of time improving the podium details, making the suite layouts more attractive and the finishes even better." The architect Mostashari refers to is Edmonton-based KEnnEDy (formerly Brinsmead Kennedy Architecture), which, along with construction manager Graham Construction & Engineering Inc. and other key professionals, were also responsible for creating Icon. The architectural focus on the podium ref lects Mostashari's overall admiration of 104 Street. "I fell in love with that street when I first started to spend some time there a few years ago," he says. "I thought it had an interesting vibe; hopefully Icon added to that vibe, and my goal was to make it even better." When pressed to describe some of the main differences architectur- ally between Fox and Icon aside from podium detailing, Mostashari replies, "Icon plays with a lot of curves on the balconies and the structure. Here we try to make them look interesting, but we played with more angles. Also, we opti- mized Fox's design so that it would be a more efficient building to construct." As is the case with any productive col- laboration, ideas were proposed and dis- carded. "At one time we proposed more colour which was finally narrowed down to a red element at the top of Fox Two," says Fraser Brinsmead. "Several other articu- lated window treatments and banded ele- ments did not make the final cut." From the outset, Langham and KEnnEDy determined that views would be critical to capitalize on the residents' desire to look south across the down- town toward the river valley and the new arena development to the north. However, aligning the towers along 104 Street caused one tower to block the views of the other. "So we staggered them as much as possible along the north- south axis, opening up southerly views for Fox One and northerly views for Fox Two," says Brinsmead. Fortunately, the property is on a street corner, which allowed for more manipulation of the tower placement. This solution caused numerous chal- lenges in the parkade with elevator cores, staircases and parking aisles. But Mostashari points out that his goal of retaining a core group of professionals from project to project is the best way of solving problem as they arise. "As with any development of this magnitude, the challenges occurred almost weekly, from tower angling, to the parkade, to no transfer beams – you name it," he says. "But my colleagues' experience enabled us to tackle each issue with confidence." The City of Edmonton requires new buildings to blend with the predomi- nantly three- to four-storey edifices that line 104 Street, and the brick facade podium with its curtain wall windows not only fit the bill but also contains the tower's parkade. "Fox One and Two have their own podiums, but they will appear like a single unit thanks to the brick," says Graham project manager Joel Isaac. Brinsmead adds, "The podium design is modulated with various window pat- terns and material changes to further break down the scale and suggest the project might have been constructed over a longer period of time." He goes on to note that "The modern look of the towers is distinct from the podium and yet several elements tie both together. In particular, the entrances line up with the tower glass walls and carry through to the sidewalk. The towers have highly articulated floors at the top, which is reminiscent of some of the early condominiums built in the 1930s in new york, and this links the historic look of the podiums and the towers." Construction on the first tower began in January 2013, and the con- fined site and surrounding congestion complicated materials storage and excavation. "For the latter, we were dig- ging our foundations lower – about 40 feet – than a six-storey parkade only a few feet beside us, so we had to create special shoring that accommodated the load," says Isaac. He adds that the lim- ited space resulting from building prop- erty line to property line "precluded any lay-down zones. Luckily, we managed to secure a small area of public property around the perimeter of our site, and this gave us the space we needed for deliveries and hoisting." Isaac points out that lessons learned on Fox One will be transferred to Fox Two, which recently completed the excavation stage. "For example, we figured out how to optimize our con- struction sequencing from one floor to the next, ensuring that different trades worked at pace with each other and that there were no gaps in the schedules," he says. "This and other elements, such as transferring most of our Fox One sub- contractors over to Fox Two, will enable us to hit the ground running." Fox Two is scheduled for completion in 2017. Although attention is just begin- ning to shift focus to Fox Two, Isaac and Brinsmead can already envision the finished, occupied complex and its impact on the downtown core. "This part of Edmonton is already known as a boutique zone, and Fox Towers will bring even more business and families to the neighbourhood," says the former. To which the latter adds: "We're proud of our role in being a part of Edmonton's evolution towards becoming a city with a strong urban heart." a Location Corner of 104 Street and 102 Avenue, Edmonton, Alberta owner/DeveLoper Langham Properties Ltd. architect KEnnEdy construction Manager Graham Construction & Engineering Inc. structuraL consuLtant Protostatix Engineering Consultants Inc. MechanicaL consuLtant Allen Wasnea Engineering Ltd. eLectricaL consuLtant Implicit Engineering Ltd. totaL size 282,000 square feet (Fox One) 600,000 square feet (Fox Towers) totaL cost Undisclosed

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