Steve_

http://www.calgaryherald.com/busines...228/story.html

So that's what a 3-year phone contract buys you.

I just want to know how big the parkade is going to be.

rwin

Hopefully just big enough for the residential part. Less parking, more transit.

ann m

Cool that they are going the LEED route...be interested to learn more about how environmentally friendly a concrete and glass tower can be.

Shard

It's much better architecture than the abysmal "Bow" tower.

Prefer the "Walkie Talkie" in London...

Flossie and Jim

I work in an old (by Canadian standards) building that has been refurbished and got gold LEED standard. Apparently this is the reason why we are not allowed to have printers at our desks any more and why the loos have no front door (not the cubicles but the main door)- cause for slight embarrassment as there is a meeting table right outside! We do have openable windows - all of about three inches - (just in case any of us get fed up with our jobs and decide to jump out perhaps?), and the soundproofing between cubicles for the higher ups is absolutely laughable (and quite good for extracting gossip). Heating and cooling system seems to do the opposite of what we want it to do all the time, and lighting was too bright so they have had to turn off every other one. Also can't understand why everyone has to have two monitors and then they all leave them on over night

I'm therefore not that convinced that this LEED standard is all that!

Flossie and Jim

Not the Shard then?

Jingsamichty

I like it.

Better that than yet another identikit McMansion estate way out on the outskirts.

ann m

Oh dear, this does not sound good!

Shard

That goes without saying

Steve_

I can't help wondering what with the flood whether it will finally encourage people to move their offices out of downtown. I've never quite understood why in such a wide open area everyone wants to have their office downtown. It's not as if they're drilling for oil next to the Calgary Tower.

Shard

Unlikely, clustering is fairly key for any serious business community. Although it would make sense fo Calgary to put more effort into sub-centres, the way Vancouver has done.

Steve_

Well there's been effort to put businesses down 52 St SE but I really don't get the logic behind building high rise buildings in Alberta. More about ego than need, imo.

Downtown is a maze, I remember showing a visiting friend around and once you've been up and down a few flights of stairs along the +15 from one building to another you can end up really lost. And then when you finally get the hang of it someone does some renovations.

There's a movie about it called: Waydowntown which is worth watching if you haven't seen it.

Almost Canadian

Eh? The downtown is hardly massive; there are maps throughout and pictures informing the public whether they are travelling north (fish - the river), south (the train lines), west (the mountains) or east (the fort)

Shard

Haven't seen or heard of that movie. Is it set in Calgary?

Despite the core being in a grid, the lack of exterior reference points does make it more difficult to navigate. But I suppose now there's an app for that!

Ben W Bell

Try negotiating the PATH system in Toronto, then we can talk again.