National Music Centre street view / © Allied Works Architecture

Two years after holding an international architectural competition that saw world renowned designers face off in a public presentation, the National Music Centre revealed competition-winner Allied Works Architecture’s final design a couple of days ago. More images, a video and complete press release after the break.

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© Peter Beech

Vancouver-based Bing Thom Architects has just completed a new three-level parkade on the campus of the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology. At more than 380,000 sqf and with dimensions of 260’ by 560’, this structure and its accompanying road realignments consolidate and rationalize the current sprawled distribution of campus parking into a central facility. In turn, this structure both frees up developable land for additional facilities and uses parking as a means of reinvigorating campus life. Given the massive size of the building, the primary design challenge was mitigating its actual and perceived scale. BTA established a profound relationship between the building and its surrounding landscape by nestling the building into an existing hillside under an existing playing field where the SAIT Trojans play year-round, leaving only the east and south sides of the parkade fully visible. The roof level is the same as the ground level of the gothic Heritage Hall – one of the centerpieces of the campus – so that the building does not obstruct views of the historic 1921 building. Glass pyramids articulate the staircases and create atria that allow natural light down into the structure.

Architect: Bing Thom Architects
Location: SAIT Main Campus, 1301 16th Ave NW, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Architect of Record: Marshall Tittemore Architects
Project Team: Bing Thom, Michael Heeney, Venelin Kokalov, Ling Meng, Shinobu Homma, Jacqueline Wiles, Derek Kaplan, Yong Sun, Marshall (Bing Thom Architects) Bill Marshall, John Souleles, Paul O’Rourke (Tittemore Architects)
Structural Engineer: Cohos Evamy integratedesign
Mechanical/Civil Engineer: AECOM Canada Inc
Electrical Engineer: Crossey Engineering Ltd, Beaubien Maskell Engineering Inc
Landscape Architect: SWA Group, IBI Landplan
Geotechnical: EBA Engineering Consultants Ltd
Building Code: LMDG Building Code Consultants
Specifications: Marshall Tittemore Architects
Traffic: Bunt & Associates
Costing: Western Cost Consultants
Lighting: Crossey Engineering, William Lam
Construction: PCL Construction Management Inc.
Project Manager: MKT Arkle Development Management Inc
Project Area: 387,000 sqf
Project Year: 2009
Photographs: Nic Lehoux (Courtesy of Bing Thom Architects), Peter Beech

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Courtesy of ACADIA

This year’s ACADIA 2011 Annual Conference, with the support of FLATCUT_, seeks proposals for innovative geometric forms that push the limits of design through the exploration of integrative material strategies for digitally fabricated assemblies.  The competition hopes to address the questions that parametric design models are pose in terms of material practice:  How does parametric design engage changes scale? How does the selection, tooling, and deployment of material shape the physical environment? How do inventive material pairings work positively and cohesively to produce new forms of assembly and environmental response? How do designers begin to embed parameters that engage concepts of sustainability, augmented performance and material flexibility?

The conference theme addresses integrative trajectories and areas of overlap between design and other disciplines. While design’s allied fields of engineering and construction will be explored, collaborative possibilities between design and other concentrations, such as computer science, material science, mathematics and biology will also be highlighted.

Details about the Conference and Call for Papers and Projects are now available at http://www.acadia.org/acadia2011/.

Allied Works Architecture was selected to design the National Music Center project in Calgary’s East Village.  The firm, led by Brad Cloepfil, will have the opportunity to “invent a new kind of institution,” as the center will be the first of its kind for Canada and will be part museum, part education and part performance.   The proposal is comprised of a five-storey building that will incorporate the historic King Edward Hotel, a legendary house of blues, and provide 80,000 sf of new space for the Cantos Music Foundation’s growing collection.  This project marks the first stage of the redevelopment of Calgary’s East Village and the creation of a new music district in the historic heart of the city.

More images and more about the winning proposal after the break. read more »

Rendering By-Encore

Culver City, California based firm, SPF Architects recently presented their design concept for the Cantos National Music Center for Calgary.  The project is “seen by many as one of the country’s most ambitious and important urban-design projects.”  Located in the center of Calgary, the new music center will not only focus on performance areas but will become more of a cultural space as it will be “part museum and part education.”

More about the Music Center after the break. read more »