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J UNE 2017 | 91 Porsche Calgary PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY BARJAC CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT INC. T he striking new state-of-the- art Porsche Calgary building at Meadows Mile in Calgary is testimony to the success of the Porsche brand in Alberta. "We have seen tremendous growth over the past five to 10 years and we needed a facility that would meet those demands," explains Craig Shostak, general manager and owner, Porsche Calgary. Sitting high on a ridge overlooking Deerfoot Meadows, the high- performance steel framed, two- storey plus basement facility takes full advantage of its location with views across east Calgary. "It's a very unique building, which is hard to describe until you visit. It just has a real wow factor," explains Shostak. Meadows Mile was one component of a large-scale masterplan for the 250-acre mixed retail development including Deerfoot Meadows and surrounding infrastructure. Patricia and Kenneth W. Mariash Sr. established the vision delivering ultra performance auto retailers to the Calgary market. As the national architect for Porsche Cars Canada, CORE Architects was tasked with providing the site specific design of the dealership based on the Porsche brand, while Rick Balbi Architect Ltd. prepared development and construction documentation, and managed the application processes through the City. The company also adapted and refined CORE's design according to owner requirements and site conditions. The site itself presented some interesting opportunities. "For this particular site we had two competing orientations to consider; those being the main entrance that would be from Blackfoot Trail as part of the new Meadows Mile development, and the site's elevated position overlooking and capturing views from the Deerfoot Trail highway. For this reason the curved facade, recognizable from all Porsche dealerships, was orientated towards the highway allowing us to create a 'unique to Calgary' look for the main entrance side," explains Keith Gabriel from CORE Architects. Danny Wolsey from Wolsey Structural Engineering, Ltd. adds that the south radial wall, which features continuous glass along the lower eight-feet of the building, meant that as the structural consultant they had to come up with a cost effective detail for accommodating the curved wall, but also provide lateral bracing along that side of the building due to the configuration of the roof. "We were able to take out the lateral loads along this line using a series of moment connected portal frames so that we did not interrupt the glazing below," says Wolsey. The building features a single-storey underground concrete parkade for up to 60 cars that makes up approximately 60 percent of the building footprint, while the second floor has been conventionally framed with composite metal deck and concrete topping. For the building envelope, the palate of materials used is predominately a curved metallic Alucabond, capless glazing and dark corrugated metal cladding. "The curved metallic facade is the identifiable brand for Porsche. The curvature is representative of Porsche designed cars and the material is used only in the showroom area of the building," explains Gabriel. "At grade, the band of glazing eight-feet tall, reinforces the focus towards the cars. In contrast, the dark corrugated cladding defines the service component of the facility. The dual orientation allowed us to push the boundaries and create a unique entrance with a larger expanse of glazing than a typical Porsche Centre, allowing views in to the showroom." The roof has been mostly framed using open web steel joists supported by steel girders. "The underside of the roof structure is exposed to view in the showroom area with particular specifications from Porsche that we had to adhere to in order to provide the esthetic they were looking for," explains Wolsey. No matter where you look, close attention to detail has obviously been paid to ensure customer satisfaction and comfort, and that includes a service drive- through area to the north that features a two-lane, six-car drop off inside to shelter customers from the weather. Head on inside, and your eyes will be instantly drawn to the cars. "The design of the interior is meant to focus on the cars not necessarily the architecture," explains Gabriel. "The cars are displayed in a large volume space and are aligned in the same configuration as a starting grid." A long linear continuous skylight running the length of the showroom brings natural light down to accentuate Porsche Calgary by NATALIE BRUCKNER-MENCHELLI

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