Lighting up Edmonton’s new EPCOR Tower

By Mack D. Male · September 21, 2011 at 2:00pm

At 6:30am this morning, EPCOR President & CEO Don Lowry officially “flipped the switch” to light the sign atop the new EPCOR Tower, the latest milestone in the construction of EPCOR’s new corporate headquarters.

The sign is unique in Edmonton, as it is the first to feature programmable RGB lighting in lettering. Every 15 seconds or so, the color of the sign changes from left to right. Currently it cycles between blue, green, orange, and yellow. Each letter is nine feet high, which sounds large but looks relatively small compared to some other downtown signs. Of course there are actually two signs, one on the north side and one on the south side, both on the 29th floor. Here’s a video that shows the sign changing color:

Last night the purple lights at the top of the building were pulsing, but my understanding is that won’t happen normally. For more on this morning’s ceremony, check out Brittney’s excellent recap.

It was a little over three and a half years ago that EPCOR entered into a 20-year lease with Qualico:

EPCOR plans to occupy approximately 265,000 square feet on the top floors of the new 28-storey office tower, with options to scale its space requirements up or down during the term of the lease. The 20-year Lease secures enough space to meet EPCOR’s current and long-term needs.

The new building carries EPCOR’s name, but it belongs to Qualico. It is the first piece of the Station Lands project, designed by Kasian Architecture Interior Design and Planning Ltd., with construction management services provided by Ledcor Construction. It was originally known as “Station Lands Tower A”. Thanks to the spires on top it is officially the tallest building in Edmonton, edging out Manulife Place (which was completed in 1983) by just 3.4 meters (though Manulife has eleven more floors). The last office building to be constructed downtown was Commerce Place, completed in 1990. You can learn much more about EPCOR Tower in this thread.

In my opinion, one of the neatest things about the new building is that it is the first downtown office tower in Edmonton to be built during the age of ubiquitous cameras. Nearly everyone walks around with a camera now, whether it is a cell phone camera, a point-and-shoot digital camera, or a fancy DSLR. That means the construction of the new EPCOR Tower has been documented by Edmontonians themselves. Like the Icon towers before it, you don’t have to look further than Flickr to see the evolution of the EPCOR Tower.

This is an early shot of the construction, taken by cdnklc on September 9, 2008:

This photo by Dave was taken on February 5, 2009 and shows some of the early construction work:

This photo by Darren on November 2, 2009 shows the tower starting to rise:

By April 2010, the building was being covered in glass:

This photo was taken by me on August 26, 2010 not long after the building was topped out:

This shot from Spi11 taken on October 4, 2010 shows the building in context with the rest of downtown (also check out this aerial photo):

I took this photo on April 29, 2011, the day they put the signage up on the building:

And then of course, we have today (you can see the sign changing color):

EPCOR will begin moving from its current offices at EPCOR Centre in about a month. They’ll occupy floors 20 through 28, while Capital Power will take floors 9 through 12. They’re not the first to move in, however. That honor went to the federal Department of Justice, which recently moved from TD Tower. EPCOR’s lease at EPCOR Centre expires at the end of the year.

What will happen to the old EPCOR Centre? That building, designed by Kenneth C. Saunders Architect Ltd. and completed in 1975, was originally known as Capital Square. It will now become the anchor piece of First&Jasper, GE Real Estate’s new downtown project, expected to be completed by early 2013. Naming rights are still available. You can read more about the project here.

I think the new EPCOR Tower is a fine way to mark EPCOR’s 120th anniversary as a company!

You can see the rest of my photos from this morning’s event here.

Photo Tour: Arctic Shores is coming to life at the Edmonton Valley Zoo

By Mack D. Male · April 15, 2011 at 2:30pm

The Edmonton Valley Zoo is in the midst of a major transformation. One of the most talked about new features is known as Arctic Shores, set to open sometime in 2012. This week (before it snowed) I had the opportunity to tour the construction site, and was impressed by the progress!

Arctic Shores will improve the quality of life for the zoo’s seals and sea lion with a new indoor/outdoor pool. You really have to see the before and after to get a sense of how dramatic that change will be, however. Here’s what the facility currently looks like:

There are three sea lion/seal pools on the left.

The zoo’s South American Sea Lion.

The zoo’s two Harbour seals.

A new home is on the way!

The animals are well cared for, they just don’t have the most attractive or exciting space to live in. It looks and feels somewhat utilitarian, and doesn’t really allow visitors to get very close to the animals. But that’s all about to change!

Here’s a rendering that illustrates what the new facility will look like:

This is a model that was on display last May, courtesy of Sharon.

And here’s another view, displayed on the fence around the construction area at the zoo.

And here’s what the construction status looked like as of this week. This is the road leading up to the Arctic Shores facility, inside the fenced off construction site. The zoo has around 75 acres of land, only 40% of which has been developed. The land that Arctic Shores is now on used to be home to camels and West Caucasian turs. They have been moved to a new home, which highlights one of the challenges of major construction at the zoo. It sounds like the construction team had some interesting encounters with the turs early on!

The new facility is being built with sustainability in mind. It will have a green roof to minimize storm water runoff, and will also feature dark-sky-compliant exterior lighting.

A big focus is water conservation. The building shown below is where filtration will happen, with the goal of achieving net zero water usage. There’s a mechanical filtration system that uses perlite (commonly seen in potting soil). That’s significant because it is safer for staff, and can simply be composted when it needs to be replaced. There’s also a biological filtration system, in the form of a saltwater marsh just behind the building.

That filtration all happens via the 29 pipes buried underground. The pipes range in diameter from 4 inches to 16 inches, and altogether will ensure that all 870,000 litres of water goes through the cycle every 90 minutes. If all goes according to plan, the filtration system will mean that the pools are filled just once. In the current habitat, the water is refilled every week.

This is the view from atop the back edge of the new outdoor pool. It’s pretty incredible to see the pathways and everything brought to life! The concrete you see here will be sealed and covered with a 2 inch layer of finishing concrete that looks like rock. Hopefully there are no leaks – the only way to tell is to fill it all up with water and then watch closely!

The outdoor pool is connected to the indoor pool via the pathway you can see on the right below.

Below you can see the viewing platform, where visitors will have a chance to get a closer look at the animals. There’s a big, curved piece of acrylic that will be added to the platform. And if you look closely, you’ll note the middle of the platform has a bunch of plywood on it. That will be turned into a viewing window as well!

In the background here you can see one of the large piles of earth. In all, the construction team estimates they removed roughly 1900 end dumps (the large, 30-40 foot long dump truck trailers). The good news is that all of that earth stayed at the zoo, and will be used for refilling around the construction and other landscaping projects.

In addition to the new sea lion/seal home, Arctic Shores will feature a pingo and a whale bone play structure. An arctic fox and ground squirrels will also call Arctic Shores home.

The shot below is the space that will become the kitchen, where staff prepare food for the sea lion and seals. Everything will be stainless steel, with lots of work space and a viewing window into the indoor pool.

In the background below, you can see the curved structure covered in black, green, and yellow tarps. That’s the acrylic piece that will encircle the viewing platform. It turns out that there are just two companies in the world that could make that component of the project, one in the United States and one in Japan. Due in part to scheduling requirements, the contract went to the company in Japan. The acrylic arrived in Edmonton late Monday night, lucky to have survived the earthquake and tsunami. You can read more about it here.

The final photo here is where the new zoo entrance will be. It will also serve as the entrance to The Wander, a new central trail system that will be built after Arctic Shores. Construction won’t begin on that for a while, but the zoo did get a head start this week. A total of 85 trees and shrubs will have been removed by today, in order to comply with the Migratory Birds Convention Act. All of them will be replaced.

As you can see, the construction of Arctic Shores has come a long way since last June. I’m really excited about the changes taking place the Valley Zoo, and will be writing more about the zoo’s ongoing transformation over the next few weeks. Thanks to Denise and Mary Lou for the tour!

You can see more photos here.

Recap: Walterdale Bridge & West Rossdale Open House

By Mack D. Male · November 23, 2010 at 2:15pm

Last Thursday the City of Edmonton held an open house to discuss and gather feedback on two projects that will have a big impact on our river valley. The Walterdale Bridge, which has served Edmonton for nearly 100 years, is reaching the end of its usable life and needs to be replaced. The bridge connects the south side to Rossdale, the western part of which has been “rediscovered” and for which a new urban design plan has been created.

Held at the TransAlta Arts Barns, I thought the open house was fairly well-attended. I stayed for the first half, and by the time I left, around 120 people had signed in. Unfortunately the Walterdale Bridge presentation went long, so I didn’t learn much about West Rossdale other than what was shared on the information display boards. You can learn more about the West Rossdale Urban Design Plan here.

The Walterdale Bridge Strategic Planning Concept Study of 2008 concluded that the bridge is now too old to be rehabilitated, and must be replaced. These images of the current Walterdale Bridge come from Bing Maps:

It may be old, but I think the current Walterdale Bridge is distinct and recognizable.

The concept design for the replacement bridge calls for a “functional signature bridge”. Key design considerations include:

Access/traffic accommodation from 82 Avenue to 97 Avenue.
Grades at south approach.
Detours and closure impacts, utility staging.
Aesthetics – signature bridge.
Traditional Burial Grounds and Fort Edmonton Cemetery Commemoration Site, historical resources.
North Saskatchewan River Valley plans.
Environmental policies and procedures.
Integration with West Rossdale Urban Design Plan, EPCOR Rossdale repurposing, ~~EXPO 2017 bid~~, and other area plans.
Pedestrian and cyclist accommodation.

To date, the City has conducted meetings/interviews with 14 key stakeholder groups, including twice with Aboriginal Elders with a pipe ceremony. As you might expect, a wide range of issues have been raised in those stakeholder meetings, but this comment nicely sums it up:

The challenge for this project is to achieve a balance between providing improved access for private vehicles to downtown Edmonton and protecting/preserving the character, safety and integrity of the communities that the roadways approaching the bridge replacement will be impacting.

There were four options presented at the open house, though they weren’t mutually exclusive (PDF, 3.9 MB). Attendees were encouraged to leave feedback using sticky notes, and if they liked the south side of one option but the north side of another, the City representatives wanted to hear that. There are four bridge types being considered: girder, arch, extradosed, and cable-stayed (PDF, 320 KB).

All four alignment options get rid of the hairpin at Saskatchewan Drive and Queen Elizabeth Park Road. The first three options shift the bridge to the east slightly, whereas option four would see the replacement built significantly further east than the current bridge. Of the four options, the first seems to have the smallest impact.

I’m encouraged by the lip service paid to pedestrians and cyclists during the open house, and I hope that translates into tangible benefits for those two important types of travelers once the replacement is built. It was also encouraging to hear that 1% of the total cost of the bridge will be allocated to public art.

In the presentation, a “signature” bridge was described as one that Edmontonians feel proud of. While that’s a fair definition, I really wonder why we’d build something we’re not proud of. It seems to me that what is meant by “signature” is something different, perhaps something more along the lines of the new Art Gallery of Alberta. I think a signature bridge is one that gets Edmontonians and others talking about it.

The next steps for the Walterdale Bridge project are as follows:

An interim plan, with three options, will go to the Transportation & Public Works Committee in January 2011.
Additional public information sessions will take place in February/March 2011.
A final recommendation will go to City Council in April 2011.

Even without EXPO 2017, we need to replace the Walterdale Bridge, so I’m not sure what impact, if any, that loss will have on the project. The Walterdale Bridge is an important, busy bridge here in Edmonton. If you have feedback on how the replacement bridge should look or function, let the team know.

NAIT to be Canada’s largest tech school

By Mack D. Male · May 25, 2006 at 8:06am

According to an article in today’s Edmonton Journal, it appears that the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology is planning to spend a ton of cash in an effort to become one of North America’s largest technical schools. The project sounds fairly ambitious:

A brand-new campus twice the size of the current main campus will be built somewhere in the south side, and the main campus in north-central Edmonton will be expanded to include a “student village” with residences and possibly an LRT station.

Over the next 25 to 30 years, NAIT’s other eight locations in the Edmonton area, such as Souch campus at Gateway Boulevard and 71st Avenue, will be consolidated into the two main sites.

The $750-million project will attempt to increase enrolment to 95,000 students from the 65,000 to help in easing Alberta’s “critical shortage of skilled workers.” One of the highlights is a new Centre for Health and Wellness, to be completed as early as 2009, that will include a fitness centre, aquatic facilities, and a health clinic.

I admit I was a little surprised when I first read the article, but I think it’s great that all of our educational institutions are expanding, and not just the University. This project probably wouldn’t have been possible a few years ago, when the south LRT extensions had not been approved – the south side campus is a reflection of the direction Edmonton’s growth is heading, and in fact has been heading for quite some time.

I’m looking forward to seeing how this project unfolds. It’s too bad they didn’t announce it a couple months ago, when they could have been featured in some of the Edmonton real-estate and growth publications!

Read: Edmonton Journal