Tothewest
Active Member
Not sure a +15 is practical in this application, but id be surprised in there wasn't an underground connection
Arts Commons | 18m | 4s | City of Calgary | KPMB
- Thread starter Surrealplaces
- Start date
The Familia
Senior Member
I'm warming up to the design, and if executed correctly, should be a very nice building. I am quite concerned how large it is though. It looks like it is taking a massive chunk out of Olympic Plaza and seems a bit overbearing. If this means that the fountain/skating sheet can no longer fit into Olympic Plaza when it gets its makeover, than I'm not sure I'm on board with this. I am more concerned with the Olympic Plaza renovation and how they design that.
haltcatchfire
Senior Member
Agree, you'd think they'd want some sort of connection, even if just for internal non-public service connectivity. I'm not bothered by no connection for the public if that's the case. Let them cross the street. They won't die.
CBBarnett
Senior Member
Depending on the design, I think Olympic Plaza still has a ton of space to work with. The current plaza design is very choppy, section are broken up and walled off (highlighted in yellow).
The Stephen Avenue portion is hardly considered part of the plaza at all in the current design, which doesn't have to be this case. More meaningfully incorporating Stephen Avenue and designing to remove a few visual/physical barriers could leave more room for stuff/events than the current design, even with a big new building.
Now if really we want to get serious, merge the municipal plaza with Olympic Plaza and design MacLeod Trail to be closed for major events. That would nearly triple the amount of public space available.
Last edited:
Tothewest
Active Member
Olympic plaza has a grandiose amount of space wasted in angles, steps, canopy's, walls, stage....what we will get is a more "at-grade" plaza with a flexible space in the middle for fountains, rink, whatever....
Albertasaurus
Active Member
I'm OK with a "shrunken" Olympic Plaza, if it results in a more pleasant, useable public space. There is a lot of wasted space in the current design, the grading gives it the impression of turning its back to the Muni, it is hemmed in to the north by the LRT tracks and to the west is basically Teatro's "back of house". There's an opportunity to have it better integrated with Municipal Plaza (as someone mentioned above) but also for it to be fronted by the new Arts Commons expansion on the west and, eventually, the renovated existing Arts Commons to the south.
adamyyc
Active Member
They should totally do this. Change the road to brick pavers (which would have the added bonus of calming traffic) and install retractable bollards at the intersection.
haltcatchfire
Senior Member
Would you be open to a massive pit and a small sign that says No Through Traffic?
adamyyc
Active Member
CalgaryTiger
Senior Member
I sense, maybe hope, they're able to use the Stephen Ave, Olympic Plaza, and Arts Commons renovation to really rethink the whole space. I know they will not at all entertain anything across Macleod, and instead I see them turning the focus of the plaza towards the Southwest corner facing the Calgary tower. I can think of some very cool ways of them being able to make the Southwest corner a focal point with steps/stage like they have in time square, except make it more of a natural grassland to mountain-like mound (something like the wildlife overpasses).
To me, city hall shouldn't be the focus your focus should be on the Arts Commons, Glenbow, Stephen Ave, and Calgary Tower
To me, city hall shouldn't be the focus your focus should be on the Arts Commons, Glenbow, Stephen Ave, and Calgary Tower
Last edited:
UrbanWarrior
Senior Member
Exactly what I was gonna say! Create the feeling of a continuous space via continuous paving, secured with bollard to the north and south, and more densely packed tree plantings on the east and west sides. Boom!
artvandelay
Active Member
Yeah I'm not really a fan of the amount of space they are chewing up from Olympic Plaza for this.
outoftheice
Active Member
Is anyone with amazing skills able to take the DP footprint of the Arts Common expansion and overlay it onto a satellite image of Olympic Plaza? I get the sense that it looks bad on paper but in reality it is probably just occupying the space currently taken up by the benches and greenspace often used by the homeless to camp out on versus impacting any of the plaza space that most people have positive connections with.
Tothewest
Active Member
using @CBBarnett image, merged the two together. It really is an inconsequential amount of space being used up. the "sunken" nature of the current plaza means you waste an incredible amount of space on steps, ramps, terraces, ect....
I'd guarantee we'll see a fountain doubling as an ice rink, all at-grade
Albertasaurus
Active Member
I'm not too concerned about the loss of a portion of Olympic Plaza, as it's not a very well designed space as others have mentioned. A lot will depend on how well designed the redo of the plaza is. Some of the space that is to be taken up by the new building is currently occupied by the Parks depot. The rest of that NW corner is basically a single pathway. They will, however, need to find a new place for the Famous 5 statues.
Having a new building fronting onto the plaza from the west is somewhat of a win, as "eyes on the street" ought to make it a more safe and vibrant space.
Having a new building fronting onto the plaza from the west is somewhat of a win, as "eyes on the street" ought to make it a more safe and vibrant space.