Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) unveiled designs today for its new Telus Sky Tower in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The 750,000-square-foot Telus Sky Tower is a faceted, mixed-use residential and office tower that both twists and tapers as it reaches skyward. Deep floor plates optimized for office workspaces on the lower levels gradually give way to more slender floor plates for residences above. Designed with local firm Dialog, the new tower will offer views over the nearby Bow River from apartment balconies and a rooftop garden. Noting that the majority of Calgary’s housing stock consists of low-rise residential areas ringing the commercial center, BIG’s inclusion of apartments and condos in the tower’s program is an effort to bring more residential quarters into a predominantly commercial downtown area. The Telus Sky Tower is sited at the intersection of both a light rail line and a major arterial avenue through the city, allowing for increased foot traffic around the tower’s retail base. BIG anticipates completion of the Telus Sky Tower, for which the firm plans to achieve LEED Platinum certification, in 2017.
A video of the Telus Sky Tower’s unveiling is available on Youtube:
