After two failed attempts by developers to replace the abandoned retail strip at 517 10th Avenue SW with a residential highrise complex, Centron Group finally stepped up to the plate and switched up the plans for the site. Ditching the proposed residential scheme in favour of a mixed-use commercial building, the Beltline site would give way to 335,000 square feet of office space and 20,000 square feet of ground-level retail space, all encapsulated in a project known as Centre 10.

Centre 10 under construction in 2012, image by Flickr user Brian Woychuk via Creative Commons

Below-grade work had advanced on the preceding residential plan for the site, producing seven levels of underground parking and the first and second floor slabs. Centron Group then incorporated the garage into the new building, with NORR upgrading the existing footings and columns in the podium. The slab at grade also had to be removed and excavated to permit a massive 12-foot by 41-foot raft footing.

Centre 10 completed, image retrieved from Google Street View

Back in the fall of 2012, the new structure had begun to take shape, boasting large 36,570-square-foot floor plates. When it was completed a year later, the building's exterior envelope consisted of a multi-layered and multi-coloured spandrel glass system broken up by a supergrid of mullions. The building was recognized by Alberta Construction Magazine as the top project in the 'Commercial — Over $50 Million' category. 

Centre 10 completed, image retrieved from Google Street View

Have an idea for a future Throwback Thursday? Let us know by leaving a comment below!