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DECEMBER 2017 | 53 Brookfield Place Calgary – East Tower PHOTOGRAPHY BY JAMES BRITTAIN/COURTESY DIALOG Brookfield Place Calgary – East Tower by ROBIN BRUNET U ltimately, the completed Brookfield Place Calgary complex will consist of a full-block development of two office towers totalling 2.4-million square feet, public plaza and a 60-foot- high pavilion linking the two buildings. But although it's unclear when the second tower will be developed, the project has already achieved a milestone: at 56 storeys, the recently completed East Tower is the tallest building in Western Canada, eclipsing neighbouring The Bow by 11 metres. More importantly, East Tower and the pavilion (the latter of which will be expanded when market conditions are favourable to start the second tower) already fulfill Brookfield Office Properties intent to create "not just a great work space, but a place in which people can enjoy and be easily entertained," says Herb Mah, Brookfield Office Properties VP, development, Canadian office division. "This will be achieved through Brookfield's programming of the plaza and pavilion, which can host events such as art exhibits, car shows, concerts, movie nights, community events and much more." In total, the $800-million Brookfield Place project, which is located in the middle of Calgary's financial district, is designed to meet LEED Gold CS standards and exceed the operational and environmental priorities of its tenants (in addition to providing them with optimal flexibility and workplace comfort). As a building form, the East Tower is a bold yet elegant contribution to the Calgary skyline. The entire facility is wrapped in a smooth, frameless, high- efficiency curtain wall and vision glazing, allowing for the ingress of natural light, maximizing views, reducing the environmental and economic impacts associated with energy use, and creating a clean architectural expression – which Dialog and Arney Fender Katsalidis have described as a "contemporary modernist composition." Cameron Veres, principal at Dialog, says: "One of the more beautiful touches of the exterior are the tower's rounded corners of clear glass, which taper from a two-foot-wide curve at the base to 15 feet at the top, turning back on itself to form a crown." The sophistication of the exterior is matched inside by a simple yet tasteful selection of building and finishing materials, such as Jet Mist Stone and black walnut. Additionally, the tower incorporates sustainable features throughout, including Energy Star roofing, durable building finishes, regional materials, energy-efficient lighting, occupancy sensors, low-VOC materials, rainwater storage and high- efficiency base building systems. The mammoth size of the East Tower does not diminish human appeal, thanks to over half an acre of a south-facing public plaza and the 4,645-square-metre glazed urban pavilion that embraces it. This civic square connects to Calgary's +15 network, one of the world's most extensive pedestrian skywalk systems. "We can't stress enough how vital this space is to the success of the project," says Veres. "Simply put, it acts as a gathering place not only for the tower tenants, but Calgarians in general." Brookfield Office Properties had acquired the eastern portion of the site in the mid 2000s with the intention of developing a single tower; but when the opportunity to purchase the western portion of the site became available, the plan shifted to a two tower phased project that would create over two- million square feet of rentable office space. "It was a great opportunity for us to embark on a master plan competition to find the right architects and vision for the block," says Mah. "As we've done in past projects with great success, we paired the two most qualified candidates – England-based Arney Fender Katsalidis and Dialog - to act as the design and production architects." LOCATION 225 6th Avenue SW, Calgary, Alberta OWNER/DEVELOPER Brookfield Office Properties ARCHITECTS Arney Fender Katsalidis / DIALOG CONSTRUCTION MANAGER EllisDon Corporation STRUCTURAL CONSULTANT Entuitive MECHANICAL CONSULTANT The Mitchell Partnership Inc. ELECTRICAL CONSULTANT Mulvey & Banani International Inc. (Toronto) CIVIL CONSULTANT Kellam Berg LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS GGN (Gustafson Guthrie Nichol) / Carson•McCulloch Associates Ltd. TOTAL SIZE 1.4 million square feet (East Tower) TOTAL COST $800 million (Brookfield Place Calgary)

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