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Dramatic new angles of Telus Sky are being exposed as vertical construction on the smaller residential floors of the 60-storey tower continue. The first 28 floors of the building are devoted to office space, and as the facade is pulled back, the 326-unit residential program takes over. That unique architectural expression is revealing itself bit by bit, as the groundbreaking design nears topping out.
The diminishing floor plate size and pixelated effect the shift in program creates endows the building's residential portion — plus office levels 20 through 28 — with juliette balconies and terraces. At ground level, the building is articulated with protruding rectangles that renderings suggest will be crowned with vegetation. The glass-walled, double-height lobby will be adorned with a vertical garden, a grand piano and retail hugging Centre Street.
Telus Sky's exterior will not only impress during the day — a 160,000-square-foot LED-based art installation will climb the north and south facades to become Calgary's biggest public art piece. 'Northern Lights' by renowned Canadian artist Douglas Coupland wraps LEDs around the window frames to create pixels that display an infinite number of patterns and colours. Coupland is also devising a free downloadable app that will translate colour-specific messages on the facade through users' smartphones, communicating information like the weather, date and time.
Cladding composed of black anodized aluminum and curtain wall glass has sheathed the office floors and is now being applied to the shorter residential levels. Designed in partnership with DIALOG, Telus Sky was Danish starchitect Bjarke Ingels' second announced Canadian project. It was unveiled in 2013, one year after the mixed-use Vancouver House was proposed.
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