REACHING NEW HEIGHTS
Calgary aiming high with taller, thinner residential skyscrapers
Calgary’s residential skyscrapers
While Calgary isn’t competing with “the big boys” (New York City, Dubai or Toronto) when it comes to the new urban living fad of creating super tall, super skinny, luxury residential skyscrapers, our city centre residential buildings are getting taller.
Recently, Hariri Pontarini Architects revealed plans for the 95-storey Pinnacle One Young tower in Toronto that will be Canada’s tallest residential tower. However, it pales in comparison to New York’s Central Park Tower at 131 floors. Over the past 10 years a cluster of super-skinny skyscrapers have been built on the south side of Central Park known as Billionaire Row. Meanwhile down under, Melbourne’s 75-storey Elysium tower is just 12 metres wide (about the width of an infill urban estate home in Calgary, or a mid-century estate bungalow in the suburbs) at its narrowest point.
In architecture and development “speak” the definition of a super-skinny skyscraper is one with a base-to-height ratio of at least 1:10 (i.e., the height is 10 times that of the width). That is what makes them look so tall and elegant compared to their stubby sibling condos, or to office buildings, which have a floor plate (base) that is two to three times bigger than that of a typical residential tower.
The main attraction of these super skinny towers is the unsurpassed views of the city and natural areas like parks, rivers, lakes, oceans and mountains they offer. It is all about bragging rights.
And, while the towers are tall, they are not necessarily adding a lot more new residents given there is often only one home per floor. As well, because they are luxury homes, the owners are typically away a lot and only there for a fraction of the year.
CALGARY’S TALLEST RESIDENTIAL TOWER
As for Calgary, most of its residential high-rises have fewer than 30 floors. However, that began changing in 2007 when Arriva opened in Victoria Park with 34 floors (128 metres high). It was replaced as the tallest tower by the Guardian, a twin 44-storey tower (147 m) complex right next door in 2016. The original concept design by BKDI Architects called for the block to have three towers, all with the same design as Arriva, but the west two being 10 storeys taller. However, after the original owners went into bankruptcy, the new owner Hon Developments redesigned the two west towers and renamed them the Guardian, keeping the same height.
Today, Calgary’s newest and tallest residential tower is Telus Sky at 60 floors. However, the first 29 floors are office space, the 30th to 58th floors are residential and the top two are mechanical. Technically, to be considered a residential tower, 80 per cent of the space must be for residential purposes. So that means the Guardian can still boast of being Calgary’s tallest completed residential building.
But that will change soon, with the completion of the Cidex’s stunning new West Village Towers on 9th Avenue at Millennium Park. Designed by NORR (Dubai and Calgary offices), it has 42 floors of residential and commercial development, as well as an amazing five-floor rooftop amenity space making its height the equivalent of a 47-storey building. At 150 metres high, when completed, it will earn the right to call itself Calgary’s highest residential tower.
Not far behind West Village Towers is Intergulf ’s 11th and 11th project now rising out of the ground at 11th Avenue and 11th Street S.W. Like the Guardian, it too will be a 44-storey tower but its total height is a little shorter at 138 metres.
Another residential skyscraper being added to Calgary’s ever-changing city centre skyline is Arris on top of the 5th and Third shopping complex in East Village. At 41 floors sitting above a huge two-storey podium of retail, it will reach a height of 142 metres — slightly taller than 11th and 11th but less than the Guardian.
Then there is the Royal, a 34-floor (115-metre) tower above Urban Fare and Canadian Tire in Lower Mount Royal.
The Beltline has several new residential skyscrapers — the two-tower Curtis Block at 37 and 34 floors (119 metres), Park Central at 35 floors (110 metres), One Tower at 32 floors (122 metres), and the Underwood at 31 floors (99 metres).
LAST WORD
For those looking for a room with a view, residential skyscrapers are the way to go. It’s a whole new perspective on the world when cars look like toys and people become dots.
And, you can be sure noise won’t be an issue. However, don’t expect a super skinny residential tower in Calgary anytime soon, even if the economy improves, as they are just way too expensive to build for Calgary’s rich and famous.