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Opening in 2011 just north of the Calgary Zoo, TELUS Spark's angular architecture draws more than a skin-deep connection to its predecessor, the Brutalist Centennial Planetarium. But unlike the stalwart concrete icon of the 1967, TELUS Spark's building envelope is decidedly glossier, with a metallic exterior that becomes a canvas at night for an evanescent light show.
The 13,500-square-metre project features a design by DIALOG that weighs heavily on structural expressionism. A layered building skin, fronted by a scrim that peels away to reveal transparency in the walls, allows visitors to peer in and out of the facility. The high-tech latticework facade has the added benefit of performing as a solar shading device for the LEED Gold building, which boasts low window-wall ratios, porous paving, bioswales, and on-site water retention. Rather than employing a conventional forced-air ventilation and cooling system, the building integrates displacement ventilation and radiant panels to distribute fresh air, heating and cooling to its users.
Key structural elements were left exposed inside, with long-span trusses in the atrium clerestory and dome lobby meant to enhance the spatial qualities of the public spaces. Alan Collyer, architect and principal at DIALOG, says the trusses "cast dynamic, visually engaging shadows throughout the day which bring the space to life and speak poetically to the notion of scientific discovery and transformation."
The design caught the eye of the Canadian Institute of Steel Construction, who awarded the building honours in the 2013 Alberta Steel Design Awards of Excellence. TELUS Spark also received recognition as the 'Top Project' in the institutional category from Alberta Construction Magazine in 2011.
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