DIVERSIFIED PORTFOLIO
Couple builds for the future
When I first met the husband and wife team of Jessie and Laura Hindle they had recently returned to Calgary to open their own practice after five years of working with architectural firms in London.
In England, Laura accepted a position with Norman Foster — designer of the Bow Building — and Jessie joined another famed British architect, Richard Rogers, where he worked on a large- scale residential project on the South Bank and a challenging extension to the British Museum.
The couple — both graduates of Dalhousie University in Halifax — say it was not only the work experience in London that helped their careers but the opportunities to wander the capital and observe how creative architecture simplifies day- today life.
The birth of their first child led them to think about returning to Canada. An offer to design a house for a friend in Calgary brought them back to Laura’s home town where they launched Hindle Architects from their Marda Loop home.
Today, the firm is in Currie Barracks and employs a staff of 10. Both partners taught design and architectural technology courses for a while at SAIT Polytechnic and review student work at the University of Calgary. Building relationships with students has meant being able to offer positions to the best.
The scale and diversity of the firm’s projects is growing as developers have confidence in a team that are not only creative designers but understand sound urban strategy and the necessity of community engagement.
Brookfield Residential was one of the first developers to give Hindle the opportunity to be involved with inner- city multifamily projects.
Altadore36 is a 62- unit complex designed to accommodate a site that’s situated between older, single- family homes and multifamily units. Hindle was able to assure the neighbours that density doesn’t have to be big scale and can provide them pleasant public spaces.
Planning is underway with Attainable Homes to design 50 townhouses on a site immediately north of the Sunnyside greenhouses in Bowness where the creation of a buffer zone between the garden centre and homes was well received.
Hindle’s experience in urban design has led to the firm being named architectural adviser to Canada Lands Corporation ( CLC) in reviewing designs for the future development of Currie Barracks to ensure all buildings meet CLC’s vision for the mixeduse development.
Hindle is also working with Telus to redesign workspaces in its buildings behind the LRT station on 7th Avenue east of 1st Street S. W. It’s also planning the interior spaces of five office floors at the under- construction Telus Sky tower, along with the 59th and 60th floors where the innovation centre, hospitality suite and sky garden will be located.
A relationship that goes back to Laura’s school days has meant Hindle has been accepted on a team led by Vancouver- based Shape Architecture to design and build the new Columbia Valley Community Facility in Invermere. The multi- purpose 25,000- square- foot town hall on a hilltop looking to the eastern slopes of the Rockies is expected to break ground in May.
Jessie and Laura still enjoy custom home design outside their commercial work and are busy with two others in Rosedale and Elbow Park.
NEWS AND NOTES
Josh Rahme, senior associate at Avison Young, reports another international fast food chain has opened its doors in Calgary where you can build your own artisanal pizza. Blaze Pizza claims it can present a fast- fixed, baked- with- fire delicious pizza in 180 seconds at its first Calgary location, on 32nd Street N. E. by Sunridge Mall. A second location is planned for 4th Street S. W.
Gung Hay Fat Choy — Happy Year of the Monkey to all of my friends in the Chinese business community.