Sneak Peek at the new Art Gallery of Alberta in Edmonton

Nearly thirty people from Edmonton’s very active social media community attended the blogger sneak peek today at the new Art Gallery of Alberta in downtown Edmonton. Armed with smartphones, video cameras, audio recorders, and lots of digital cameras, we toured the new building with Sarah Hoyles, the AGA’s Media Relations and Communications Coordinator, and Gilles Hebert, the AGA’s Executive Director.

The very striking building is situated at #2 Sir Winston Churchill Square, on the northeast corner between City Hall and Chancery Hall/Century Place. I think it is just as beautiful on the inside as it is distinct on the outside. Everyone is in for a real treat when it officially opens to the public on January 31!

A couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to visit the building with Torch Reporter Chris Wheeler, so I thought I’d start this post with some of the under-construction shots I took at the time:

And here’s one of AGA Board Chair Allan Scott, who has been working to make the new AGA a reality for more than ten years:

On to today’s tour! We met in the foyer, right underneath the borealis.

Here’s a shot of our guides, describing the borealis above:

Our first stop, after the coat check, was Zinc, the Art Gallery of Alberta’s new restaurant. Still under active construction, we got a very quick glimpse at what dining in Churchill Square might be like. As Sharon remarked, standing in Zinc is reminiscent of standing inside Cactus Club Bentall 5 in downtown Vancouver.

Here’s Chris and Sharon, representing Edmonton’s food bloggers:

Next we ascended the grand staircase to the third level, which provided us with a fantastic eye-level view of the borealis, as well as the opportunity to step outside onto the City of Edmonton Terrace.

We slowly made our way back downstairs, pausing on the second level to learn more about the way the new building is meant to capture snow. It’s explained in this video, which also provides a sneak peek at Storm Room, an interactive ten-minute exhibit featuring water, among other things:

Passing by the front entrance, we next visited the basement level, which features a number of education spaces (the rooms are named after colors, such as orange and yellow), theatre space, the AGA sales office, and the LRT entrance.

A lot of thought went into the design of the new AGA, something that architect Randall Stout illustrated very well during his talk back in September. It’s a building that you have to visit multiple times – it looks different depending on the season, weather, and time of day. It’s a fantastic addition to Edmonton’s downtown, and to the city as a whole.

Thanks to everyone who made it out to the tour today! You can see the rest of my photos here.

Here are some of the other posts from today’s tour (I’ll update as more appear):

Proud to be an Edmontonian: Art Gallery of Alberta at daveberta.ca
Art Gallery of Alberta at eatingisthehardpart.com
AGA Sneak Peek from @lealea
Art Gallery of Alberta – Sneak Peek at momentsindigital.com
Blogger’s Tour of the Alberta Gallery of Art from @livingsanctuary
Art Gallery of Alberta from @sirthinks
The new Art Gallery of Alberta at marisasano.ca
Inside the Art Gallery of Alberta at alexabboud.wordpress.com
AGA from @evolvingblue
Art Gallery of Alberta – Q&A session and Photos from @alainsaffel
Video tour of the AGA from @zoomjer
Art Gallery of Alberta – sneak peek at alainsaffel.com
A blogger’s tour of the AGA from @britl
Art’s deeper meaning at communityintelligence.ca
A Gem for the Core: the Art Gallery of Alberta at onlyhereforthefood.ca
Back to Square 2: Art Gallery of Alberta Sneak Peek at korymathewson.com
Today the AGA, tomorrow the other news stuff at theedmontonian.com
Art Gallery of Alberta Social Media Tour at adamsnider.com
Peeking Behind the Curtains of the AGA at iheartedmonton.com

Randall Stout on the new Art Gallery of Alberta

On Saturday afternoon, Randall Stout gave a talk at the Winspear Centre on the new Art Gallery of Alberta. As the lead architect on the renovation of the AGA, he could talk about the project like no one else. He started with some of his influences and favorite examples of architecture, and then moved on to the philosophy behind the design for the new AGA. He touched on the technology used throughout the design process, and the materials used for the building’s construction. He finished with some never-before-seen renderings and photographs of the new AGA.

As Sharon noted, one couldn’t help but come away from the talk feeling excited about the new Art Gallery. I was already looking forward to the new building for it’s unique and controversial design (both positive things in a city mostly full of plain buildings) and hearing Stout’s thoughts only furthered my appreciation for the design.

Randall Stout Architects, Inc. was named the winner of the Edmonton Art Gallery’s New Vision architectural competition on October 13th, 2005. Here’s what Stout had to say at the time:

“It is an honour to be chosen from among such distinguished colleagues,” said Randall Stout once he had been given the news. “I look forward with great excitement to crafting architecture that serves the Gallery’s New Vision of programming for the people of Edmonton and all of Alberta.”

The distinguished colleagues he mentioned included Alsop & Partners (London, UK) and Quadrangle (Toronto), Arthur Erickson/Nick Milkovich (Vancouver), Dub Architects (Edmonton), and Zaha Hadid (London, UK).

Though Randall Stout has been on the job for about four years, the project actually started nearly twelve years ago. That’s when the wheels were set in motion for the renovation of what was known at the time as the Edmonton Art Gallery. I think once we see the completed building we’ll look back and say it was worth the wait.

The most distinctive feature, the sweeping stainless steel wave, is known as “Borealis”. It is meant to reflect our city’s unique geography – the river valley cutting through box-filled urban spaces. While it will appear as one piece as you walk into the building, it is actually separate to ensure that cold outside temperatures stay outside.

Stout talked a little about designing for such a northern climate. He mentioned that the building was designed with winter in mind, and showed a rendering of the building on a very snowy day. He didn’t give specifics however, and said to wait for some nice weather-related surprises when the building opens. He also shared his admiration for local construction workers who braved the cold weather to keep the project on track.

Though the new AGA will indeed be linked to the pedway system and to Churchill LRT station when finished, it will not include a redesigned LRT entrance. Stout said that he went above and beyond the requirements of the competition by including the feature in his initial designs, but scrapped it due to lack of funding. He’s hopeful that the City might resurrect the feature in the future (and I am too).

Other interesting features of the new building include “the grand staircase”, the third floor terrace, a new restaurant/cafe, and a color-changing exterior. You can learn more about the building features here.

The new $88 million Art Gallery of Alberta will open to the public on January 31, 2010, roughly 1500 days after Randall Stout won the competition. To tide you over until then, the Art Gallery of Alberta is hosting an exhibit called Building a Vision, which features “the progression of the building from initial conceptual sketches and diagrams to pictures, models, and photographs captured throughout construction.” Don’t miss it!

A look at Edmonton’s new Future Shop

Tonight I had the opportunity to tour Edmonton’s newest Future Shop, located in South Edmonton Common. The 53,000 square foot building is easily the largest Future Shop in existence, nearly double the size of the average store. The new Edmonton store is the result of more than two years of planning, design work, and customer consultation to come up with the future of Future Shop. That’s a tall order, but I came away impressed.

About a dozen of my fellow social media experts were invited to check out the new store this evening. We split into two groups to tour the building. General Manager Chris Sallans led my group, and did an excellent job of describing the decisions that were made and what the vision is for the new store. He and his fellow Future Shop colleagues answered all of our questions along the way. We each received a gift bag at the end (containing a Jabra Noise Blackout BT530 Bluetooth Headset), as well as light refreshments. I was a little disappointed when I got to the store to find that it was already open to the public, but by the end I had come to appreciate the way they planned things. Nearly a dozen employees were at our disposal, and in retrospect it would have seemed creepy and oddly quiet if we were the only ones inside the gigantic building!

The layout of the store is quite simple. There’s a large circular area in the centre known as ConnectPro. It’s broken into Play, Work, On The Go, and Living. Associates in the circle are there solely to help you figure the technology out, they aren’t meant to sell you anything. The other sections are located around the circle, along the edge of the building. Counterclockwise as you enter: cell phones are followed by computers (with the onsite garage for auto entertainment behind), the Mac section, home entertainment and televisions, the new musical instruments section, gaming and media, appliances, fitness, and finally the checkout counters.

The musical instruments section was our “home base” for the evening, fitting as it is the most unique part of the new Future Shop design. I’m not an instrument geek, but it seemed really impressive. In total it’s about 2500 square feet. The far wall is full of guitars, and other instruments are in the middle. There are two sound-proof rooms in the back for drums and acoustic guitars (this one also has special temperature and humidity controls). Near the front are computer workstations where customers can riff on a guitar and burn a CD using Garage Band or other popular software. Very cool.

The Mac section of the store is about 2000 square feet, and features a Genius Bar staffed by an Apple employee from Wednesday to Sunday. Not that I expected it to, but the Mac section just doesn’t compare to an actual Mac store. It felt out of place sandwiched between the televisions and computer software.

I think my least favorite section of the store was the cell phone section. Maybe it’s because of the ongoing construction, but it didn’t seem to offer anything beyond what every other electronics retailer has. I appreciate the desks and chairs for customers and employees to sign contracts and all that, but the phone displays themselves still seemed rather mundane.

My favorite sections were the ConnectPro, which seemed very open and inviting, and the gaming trees (there are three of them located throughout the store). With about 46 television screens of varying sizes on each tree, you can’t help but stop and gawk for a few minutes. I can’t imagine how much power they use, but the trees are very visually appealing and functional.

I asked about the checkout counters, as that is usually the most frustrating part of any store for me. I hate line-ups. Chris said there are eight sales tills, and eight customer service tills, up from the usual two. In addition, the lanes are far wider than normal. He said that the onus is on him to ensure customers are moved through efficiently.

Here’s a quick walk through the store from start to finish:

A few other notes on the store:

They are going for a Silver level LEED certification with the new building.
There will be completely free and open Wi-Fi in the store starting Friday, under a “Future Shop” SSID. We tried it tonight but it wasn’t fully operational (only local access).
I asked about parking, and although they said they had the largest lot in South Common, it doesn’t look any bigger than Wal-Mart’s, and definitely not bigger than Ikea’s. It certainly has far more parking than Best Buy though. As an aside, Sharon doesn’t think it’s right for a building that you have to drive to to be LEED certified!
The main difference between the Appliances section in the new store and what Future Shop’s already have, is the way they are displayed. Instead of ovens on shelves, think built out kitchens similar to what you’d find in Home Depot.

The store soft-opened on Sunday afternoon, but the grand opening is from Friday, December 5th until Sunday, December 7th. The first 100 people in line will receive a free gift card of $5, $25, or $50 and there are a ton of door crasher deals. There’s also a Rock Band competition taking place, with the winner getting a chance to take on Gene Simmons on Saturday! On Sunday, Oilers captain Ethan Moreau will be there signing autographs.

[geo_mashup_map height=”200″ width=”575″ zoom=”13″]

Thanks to Future Shop and Capulet for the opportunity to check out the store! I think there are some really unique aspects to it, and I look forward to hearing the reaction from other Edmontonians. You can see all my photos and video at Flickr.

New Concept for Edmonton Arena in The Quarters Downtown

Earlier today, local architect Gene Dub released some conceptual drawings and a video rendering of a new arena for Edmonton’s downtown. The project would cost about $300 million, and while Dub has talked to the Katz Group they haven’t made any commitments. According to Global TV, the arena would be on the third floor of the unique-looking, reverse-cone shaped building with retail underneath.

Dub surprised everyone by unveiling his vision at a public hearing for The Quarters Downtown redevelopment plan. The new arena would be located along 103A Avenue between 96th and 97th Streets. I’ve drawn it on a map which you can see here. Currently there’s a whole lot of parking on the site and not much else. The visioning process for The Quarters Downtown began over two years ago. City Council approved the vision statement on September 26th, 2006:

The Quarters (Downtown East) will be a vibrant, healthy community comprised of five distinct areas, each with its own character, activities, and feel, structured around a unique linear park system running through the neighbourhood that provides a defining element for the community. The neighbourhood is well connected to the downtown core and river valley, yet has a distinct image that identifies it as a unique place in the city. Streets are improved with limited through traffic, making the streets safe and inviting for pedestrians and bicyclists. Large city blocks are broken into smaller, more inviting and walkable pieces. Activity abounds. There is a mix of parks, shops, employment, services, and housing. There is a diversity of ages, incomes, and cultures. Open space is surrounded by businesses and housing, creating a safe and inviting amenity year round. The Quarters is a place where community is important and pride and investment in the neighbourhood is evident.

I don’t think the proposed arena goes against that vision, but it’s not exactly a perfect fit, either. I’ve been critical of a new arena before, primarily because I don’t feel that public funding should finance the bulk of the project. I’d reconsider that if the arena was part of a redevelopment project such as The Quarters, however. It remains unclear whether or not the proposed site would be large enough for more than just the arena.

Here’s the video render:

It’s definitely eye-catching.

Wondering who Gene Dub is? He’s the architect behind Edmonton’s City Hall. His firm has received a number of awards over the years, including at least six for the glass-and-stone pyramids of City Hall. Dub also served one-term as a city councillor.

It’ll be interesting to see what becomes of this proposal – I’ll be keeping an eye on it. You can find more comments on the design here and here.

UPDATE (11/25/2008): The Edmonton Journal wrote about the concept here, with few additional details but comments from Dub and a couple councillors.

Edmonton Oilers Arena Feasibility Report – Link Roundup

edmonton oilers Earlier this week, the nine-member committee studying the feasibility of building a new hockey arena in Edmonton released their report. It contains no surprises, and recommends that if a new facility is to be built, it should be built downtown. I’m sure you’ve heard all about it on the news, but there are lots of excellent blog posts on the story that should not be missed. Here they are, with quotes.

From Covered in Oil:

The other question, whether a new arena would be better off in another part of the City will have to go unanswered, as the Feasibility Committee didn’t seem to even bother to look anywhere else.

From Grandinite:

If I get the underlying logic of this development, bringing people downtown will bring in cash. but that cash will flow out of the area if the owners do not live downtown. Sure, money will be spent at restaurants and casinos, but where do the profits go?

From Colby Cosh:

I’m not too clear after reading the summary just what is wrong with the existing Rexall Place. I was looking forward to some clear public explanation of this, but all we’ve been given is a lot of wind about “downtown revitalization.”

From The Battle of Alberta:

Dear Mr. Lowe,

We already have a hockey shrine in Edmonton. It’s called the Northlands Coliseum. You might remember it. You won five Stanley Cups there.

A arena without a history of accomplishment is not a shrine. It’s a mall with seats.

From Fighting for Taxpayers:

Dr. Brad Humphreys, the foremost expert on the economic benefits of professional sport teams and arenas has proven that there is not an economic growth, but merely a shift of where the money is spent.

From daveberta.ca:

Of course I want Edmonton’s downtown to become vibrant, but building a giant hockey rink won’t automatically put Edmonton in a position to rival downtown Montreal or New York (like some of the article’s have alluded). I’m still not convinced that spending upwards of $450 million (plus land costs) on an arena that will draw the suburbs downtown for a couple hours 2-3 nights a week is what will revitalize downtown.

From Alberta: Get Rich or Die Trying:

There will be a new arena and it will be downtown, any alternatives have pretty much been steamrolled over by the municipal government and the Edmonton media. There will be public funding, not direct tax increases, but by other means, and the province will give nothing.

From A Blog Of Pucks:

It would be an 18,000 seat 450 Million dollar arena. That’s great but once again I’ll ask the difficult question: Is this really going to make the wives like living in Edmonton any better? The committee better ask Pronger’s better half first.

And finally, this one isn’t a blog but an article at CBC today:

A new downtown Edmonton arena to replace Rexall Place could threaten one of the biggest annual events in the city, say officials with the Canadian Finals Rodeo.

The owners of Rexall Place, Edmonton Northlands, are ruling out the possibility of keeping it open as is, if a new arena is built.

“We can’t have two competing large-scale facilities,” Jerry Bouma, chair of the board, said Wednesday.

Also, be sure to check out this interview with Brad Humphreys.

It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out. Stay tuned.

5 Things Edmonton Should Invest In Before a New Arena

Rumors of a new hockey arena in Edmonton have been floating around since at least November of last year. The latest news, released yesterday, is that a new “arena feasibility” committee has been struck to determine whether such a project should go ahead, and if so, where, for how much, and who should foot the bill. Jerry Bouma, president of Northlands and a member of the new committee, said:

“You have to build a world-class facility. The Oilers have already said they need a new arena.”

I’m not sure there is anyone on the committee who is against the idea of a rink. So much for the word “feasibility” – it looks like we’ve moved past that. Seems also that most of the members are convinced it should be downtown. I’m all for revitalizing our city’s downtown core, as I’ve stated before, but I am not sure if a new arena is the best idea. There are good arguments on both sides of the debate. For some good discussion, read: here, here, here, here, and here.

Either way, I don’t think taxpayers should foot the entire bill. Certainly the city should contribute something if a new arena is built, but I think it should be the Oilers that pick up the bulk of the expenses. In my opinion, there are better things that Edmonton should be investing in (these are in no particular order):

South Edmonton Common. Talk about congestion! Seriously, we need an overpass/underpass at 23rd avenue and Gateway Blvd. Especially once the new business park just to the south of SEC is built.
LRT. Finish it faster! Or keep it on track, and add a West Edmonton Mall to Downtown line. I think an East-West line would be great for the city, especially if it were to go to WEM.
Potholes. There are far too many of them around the city. What happened to that research with rubber/asphalt roads? Did it work or not? Let’s get the roads fixed!
Startups. Alberta just isn’t the best place to start a company, oil & gas related or not. Everything I have learned suggests that Ontario, B.C., and other provinces ofter much better incentives for entrepreneurs. Certainly this is a provincial issue, but there’s no reason that Edmonton can’t get the ball rolling. Let’s help individuals take advantage of the hot economy.
Housing. Speaking of our hot economy, how about more money for housing? You can’t turn on the news these days without hearing about the housing crunch in our city.

Or how about making our city cleaner? Five Canadian cities made this Forbes list, Edmonton was not one of them. And don’t forget about the ring-road project that continues. Obviously you could add new schools, hospitals, and other “usual suspects” to the list. I am tempted to mention city-wide wifi too, because I think it would have a positive impact.

The point is that a new arena benefits the Oilers first, and Edmonton second. Funding should follow that order. I’m not against a new arena (I have to admit I am a bit excited about the prospect) but I am against it being funded entirely (or even mostly) by taxpayers.

Advertising on the Roof

I probably heard of rooftop ads at some point in the past, but thanks to services like Google Earth and MSN Virtual Earth, advertising that is visible from above is becoming incredibly popular. A few days ago Bryce posted this picture of a Target ad, and today Jeff Clavier discovered an eBay auction for a rooftop ad:

Well, an auction for a one year ad placement is now on eBay here. It was listed 3 days ago by a company called Roofshout – whose domain has been registered 4 days ago.

Details of the actual placement, location, etc. are more than fuzzy – to say the least. We’ll see where that one ends up: current price, $105 – 6 days to go.

Scam or market test ?

I say market test! With more and more people spending hours virtually flying around the world, this kind of thing could be come quite popular.

Read: Jeff Clavier

Always On Wireless

What’s my mantra? Wireless Everywhere! I look forward to the day when wireless is like oxygen; everywhere you go, it’s there. So it always makes me smile when I find an article that really nails the vision:

“If you ask someone what the (return on investment) on plumbing is, they couldn’t tell you, because it’s just part of what the building needs to survive,” Ed Cantwell, president and CEO of InnerWireless says. “Wireless is like that. People can debate if wireless is a utility, but I contend that it already is just like heating and cooling, lights, plumbing and electricity.”

I think that’s an excellent step, treating wireless access like water and having buildings designed with that in mind. That’s what happened at the University of Chicago hospital:

The pediatric hospital’s new wireless infrastructure aggregates two-way radio, public-safety radio, paging, Wi-Fi and cellular networks into one system that runs throughout the building, augmenting signals with antennas spread around each of its six floors.

There’s a whole host of startups providing such infrastructure. If I were to build a building, you can bet that an integrated wireless utility would be part of the specifications.

Read: CNET News.com

Freedom Tower

The design for the new Freedom Tower to be built in Lower Manhattan was announced yesterday, and you’ve got to admit, it’s quite impressive. The new tower is built to last, with a base that is just incredible when you think about it, but it will also have reminders of the two World Trade Center towers:

The newly configured building would have no occupied space other than the lobby for its first 200 feet. It would be set at least 40 feet farther away from West Street-Route 9A, a heavily trafficked state highway. Many of its windows would be tempered, laminated and multilayered for extra protection against explosions.

“The tower we have now is even better than the tower we had before,” [Daniel Libeskind] said, congratulating Mr. Childs, with whom he famously quarreled two years ago over the first Freedom Tower design. “It asserts what the site is all about. The tower relates to the memorial, and rises in a symbolic way.”

The only unfortunate part about the building is that because it had to be redesigned, it’s construction has been further delayed, and is not expected to wrap up until 2010. I can’t imagine having lost someone in the famous attacks of 2001, but I suspect that having the new building up and complete would help close the book on that dark day.

Read: New York Times

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