AWARDS: - Masonry Contractors Association of Alberta, Design Award - Canadian Institute of Steel Construction, Award of Merit - Chicago Athenaeum: Museum Of Architecture And Design & The European Centre For Architecture Art Design And Urban Studies, Green Good Design Award - Alberta Steel Design Awards of Excellence, Winner: Architectural Category - Emerald Award, Winner, Government Institution - Prairie Design Awards, Award of Excellence in Architecture - Mayor's Urban Design Award (Calgary), Winner: Civic Design Projects - Consulting Engineers of Alberta, Award of Excellence

Located on a former brownfield site, this LEED® Gold workplace for 800 employees was built to bring together a staff that had previously been spread across the city.

Inspired by the movement and translucency of water, the building represents the first phase of the site’s redevelopment to a satellite civic office centre. Sustainable design features include dramatic reductions in energy and water consumption while creating a healthy, dynamic working environment, enhancing the quality of life for staff. Using an integrated design process, we arrived at a narrow floor plate to optimize daylight in all workspaces, while enhancing collaboration in a large south-facing atrium.

The location provided the project with interesting challenges, but also great rewards. Usually, industrial areas tend not to be pedestrian-friendly, but the Water Centre has an LRT station nearby. The building sits on the edge of the site allowing space for a large garden of native plants, which will be an amenity for both the city workers and the residents of nearby neighbourhoods. The building also boasts fantastic views of the downtown core, and the bold shape of the building can be seen from many vantage points around the downtown area.