Arts Commons | 18m | 4s | City of Calgary | KPMB

CBBarnett said:
My main concern is this seemingly back-of-house area at MacLeod and 7th Ave. It's concerning that they didn't show a rendering from that angle, makes me thing there will be no entrances and yet another truck access point, particularly concerning if they maintain the tiny parks depot.

I get it - trucks need to get places too, MacLeod already "sucks" so why bother - but it's across the street from the LRT station at that corner and in the pedestrian core of the city centre. Buildings need all 4 sides to be considered in this context, not 3. This is hardly an unsolvable problem - museums, cultural facilities and venues across the planet have figured out back-of-house issues like this before, if there's ever a place to figure it out in our context it's here.
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My guess is they chose Macleod, the least relevant programmable side of the 4, to serve as a "back of house" area. Unfortunately, compared to libraries, museums, ect... performing arts centres are more like arenas with the need for large scale loading/unloading frequently. There is no place to do a ramp, so you're stuck with at-grade
 
The building looks great! Although unfortunate to lose all those trees.
Now we await the redesign of Olympic Plaza which brings lots of questions. Assuming that space in the NW corner is loading space then the Parks work area is lost. Much of that will be underground in the new Plaza with only a small above ground footprint (Like at Central Memorial Park)... or the Parks folks will be all off site which means a lot of driving and parking of trucks on Stephen Ave south of the Plaza. Already it's not uncommon to see 6-10 City trucks/vans parked in the Plaza.
 
In short, I don’t like it.
If the placeholders shown for the plaza and rejuvenation of the existing building are any indication of what will be done, I say leave it as it is (at least on the outside).
The new building is meh for me - the massing is unpleasant to my eye and, as someone else said, it gives me Platform vibes.
 
It won't be dimensional lumber purchased at the Home Depot.

the whole thing from the building to the landscaping looks like a corporate head office in Northern Europe. I can't say if that's good enough.
 
The requisite Indigenous firm required to win any Municipal, Provincial, Federal design competition in our Reconciliation boom is harmless and provide jobs. This is a KPMB design. Alternatively, The Reconciliation naming and renaming boom creates nothing and wholly occupies the public sphere building resentment
 
Uhhhh, what? Reading a bit of National Civic Art Society advocacy? Perhaps down an algorithmic news consuming spiral?
 
That's a bold assertion. I wonder what it is based on? Actual travel and talking to people in all circles? (part 2)Following design competitions across Canada? (Part 1) Or, a presumptive self aggrandizing social justice ideology ignoring that people in an economic based society will act as people in an economic based society

Those are opinions based on my personal experiences and any offense conjuring up it as alt right propaganda is on you
 
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The DP has been submitted:
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Massive fan over here of wood and wood products - it's an amazingly warm and sustainable material that, if maintained well, can look amazing (mass timber beams are my absolute fave structural elements). I'm elated that it's a material that is becoming more and more popular in large-scale construction in Alberta too. I'm also stoked on this design by KPMB; I feel it will really, really warm up and revitalize an important urban space, which has traditionally felt a bit cold to me. The key will be to regularly maintain the wood properly, of course.
 
Agree with comments above - I am very excited for this project and I think it'll turn out great. Somewhat unusually for an arts centre, there is lots of permeability which is much needed in this part of downtown. The wood exterior is a welcome change from the excessive amount of crappy brutalist concrete buildings on the east side of downtown.
 
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