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The 1947 Leduc oil discovery precipitated a contemporary Calgary defined by a mountainous skyline of office buildings. Some of the city's most recognizable buildings, from the Barron Building to Elveden Centre, were ushered in by the mad dash of industry looking to capitalize on the fortuitous finding. While not as physically imposing as its predecessors, the four-storey building at 706 7th Avenue SW, erected by Calgary-based Dome Petroleum Limited, would later become a more noticeable fixture on the cityscape.
The site was previously occupied by a residential block until the issuance of a building permit in 1958 which signalled its demise. The Modernist structure designed by J. Stevenson and Associates was completed the following year.
Dome Petroleum vacated the property in 1976 and moved into a new office at TD Square. A few years later, the new owners opted to erect a congruent six-storey addition on top of the former Dome Building. The Bank of Nova Scotia seen in the archival image above has been replaced by a series of storefronts in what is now known as Sierra Place.
The future holds similarly big things for the complex. Responding to Calgary's excess of office space, real estate investment trust Artis unveiled their intentions to transform the 10-storey, 92,000-square-foot downtown building into a 72-unit residential rental.
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