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An internationally known symbol of the city, the Calgary Tower is perhaps the premier public vantage point downtown from which to truly assess the core's enormous growth over the past decade. Some of the city's tallest buildings have exploded onto the scene in recent years, overshadowing the once-dominant Suncor Energy Centre. Meanwhile, the Beltline has evolved into one of the most intensive neighbourhoods for new development in Canada. The Calgary Tower has been faithfully providing residents and tourists with an opportunity to witness this change first-hand, and we take a look at just how tall and dense the city has become in this edition of Throwback Thursday.
The pace of development in the Beltline has been extraordinary. There are a number of notable changes to the cityscape in the seven years that have elapsed since the above photo was taken. The stalled development at 4th Street and 10th Avenue SW, originally slated to be residential, later became the Centre 10 project. The blue- and red-painted tops of the Aura Towers, a two-building rental complex jointly developed by Intergulf-Cidex, can be spotted in the distance.
There has been an onslaught of major highrise projects in the Beltline in the last few years. Park Point has risen to its ultimate 34-storey height as cladding catches up to the crown. On 10th Avenue, parking lots and underutilized sites have given way to 6th and Tenth and the Residence Inn by Marriott project, which is increasingly obscuring the 35-storey Mark on 10th tower from this angle. The biggest newcomer in the image since 2010 is Eighth Avenue Place, seen at the far right side. The first tower in the complex rose to a height of 49 storeys and opened in 2011, joined three years later by a 40-storey sibling tower flipped 180 degrees.
The view to the north of the financial core has always been one of grandeur and dominance. The downtown's height was given a big boost in 2012 from Foster + Partners with the completion of the 236-metre-tall The Bow, which eclipsed the Suncor Energy Centre by 21 metres to become Calgary's tallest building. The Bow's reign was fleeting however, with the 56-storey Brookfield Place climbing to a height of 247 metres. Another landmark by an international architect, this time Bjarke Ingels, is making its ascent in between the two tallest buildings. At 222 metres, Telus Sky won't quite be as tall as either, but its dissolving pixel-like design is sure to command attention in much the same way.
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