Urban Development and Proposals Discussion

[Chowda7]

Gehl Studios to lead redesign of Stephen Avenue with input from Stantec

Stephen Avenue makeover to create a ’21st-century experience’: City of Calgary

The City of Calgary has revealed the design company they’ve partnered with to help complete a makeover of Stephen Avenue, saying the redesign will help modernize the space.

globalnews.ca

 

[JonnyCanuck]

Other than 8th Ave itself, the sidewalks and the lighting... what else can the city impact? The exteriors and facades of the buildings themselves probably won't change unless the property owners buy into some new theme or concept. Many of the buildings between Centre St. & 3rd St. SW are heritage and most people would not want to see them change from their original form. On the other hand, there are many buildings that are stark, cold or provide little or no street interface. It is unfortunate that there was not a vision for 8th Ave decades ago before all the new development started.

 

[Colinfill]

Would this involve a revamp to Olympic Plaza too? I feel like this would go hand-in-hand

 

[darwink]

^ Yes.

 

[JonnyCanuck]

Would this involve a revamp to Olympic Plaza too? I feel like this would go hand-in-hand

There is already a plan in place for a re-do of Olympic Plaza that incorporates additional condo/retail development and Arts Commons.

Wow .. with the expansion of BMO, a new event centre, a re-do of Olympic Plaza, 8th Ave make-over plus the Green Line .... that is some big time capital expenditure in the core over the next several years.

 

[MichaelS]

No capital funding has been allocated to 8th Avenue. This is just $500k to develop a concept, with then determining the cost estimate and making the capital funding ask. It would be great to see if funded, but that is a decision for a future council.

 

[Surrealplaces]

I have mixed feelings on the Stephen Ave thing. Improvements are always nice, but maybe the money is better spent on 8th street or 10th ave? or other streets somewhere. Stephen Ave though not perfect is already humming along.

 

[haltcatchfire]

I have mixed feelings on the Stephen Ave thing. Improvements are always nice, but maybe the money is better spent on 8th street or 10th ave? or other streets somewhere. Stephen Ave though not perfect is already humming along.

Agree about 8th street improvements being a higher priority. A revamped 8th street would do much more for the city than updates to Stephen Ave. Maybe someone can whiteout "avenue" and put "street".

I also worry that with change for the sake of change we could just end up with a sea of random rectangle dual grey tone broomed concrete.

 

[Alex_YYC]

Making changes to Stephen Ave feels like a lateral change to me, and could even impact it (if it ain't broke don't fix it) It's the businesses that largely make Stephen Ave what it is. They need to leave it alone and concentrate on other streets.

 

[Silence&Motion]

8th street already has a design proposal. They just haven't funded its reconstruction yet. As far as I know, 10 ave does not have a design proposal. I agree that it is a higher priority than Stephen Ave, but it's probably best left until the Green line is worked out. Same goes for 11th and 12th ave. 4th street between 10th and 17th could definitely use an update as well.

I suspect the fact that the business association is covering half the cost is the reason that Stephen Avenue is being prioritized and getting a high-profile design firm.

 

[DougB]

Does the scope of the Stephen Ave design end at 5th St? The City should look at extending it to 8th St or maybe all of the way to Mewata

 

[JonnyCanuck]

Does the scope of the Stephen Ave design end at 5th St? The City should look at extending it to 8th St or maybe all of the way to Mewata

According to the city's website, there are (3) 'character' area
Olympic Plaza to 3 St SW
3 St to 8 St SW
8 St to 11 St SW

I assume they are thinking of varying the designs in each of these areas.

 

[The Familia]

Stephen Ave. needs a major update and fast. It’s the cities most famous and unique street. A complete redesign of the streetscape is crucial to keeping it the cities premier street. If done right and it attracts more people at all hours of the day, It will also help The Core Mall as well.

I’d love to see high quality sidewalks and paving, beautiful streetlights and benches, fountains, patios and bistros. I’d love for it to have a modern European flavour.

 

[UrbanWarrior]

This is their recently released proposal for Copenhagen's central square. So I'm pretty hopeful about this team and this project for Stephen Ave.

Here's some work they've completed in other cities...

Moscow Riverfront...

"The Melbourne Miracle"...

San Francisco...

Copenhagen...

Feature: Jan Gehl on 50 years of battling to make our cities more people-friendly | CLAD

Sixteen years ago Jan Gehl and Helle Søholt teamed up to launch Gehl Architects, with the ambition of designing more people-friendly cities. Kath Hudson finds out about their approach and achievements

www.cladglobal.com

 

[Skyfire]

Melborne looks great but Copenhagen, Moscow, and San Francisco makes me dread a repeat of what happened to Devonian Gardens. An aging but lush and interesting space turned into sterile 2010s mall planters, cold walkways, contemporary structures that won't age well, etc. Just an overall cold feel. At least for the moment, there are some classical components such as the columns by HBC and the old fashioned lamp posts etc. that are more timeless.

The structures and styling from those Moscow Riverfront and San Francisco pictures might look okay but you have to remember that Calgary's Century Gardens and other brutalist public spaces also looked very modern and exciting in the 60s/70s.