The Water Centre

Located on a former brownfield site, this LEED^® Gold workplace for 800 employees spearheads the City of Calgary’s recent mandate that all their new buildings achieve minimum LEED^® Silver rating.

A booklet,  prepared by the City of Calgary, is here for a free download:

Inspired by the movement and translucency of water, the building also represents the first phase of the site’s redevelopment to a satellite civic office centre. Sustainable design features will include a reduction in energy and water consumption while creating a healthy, dynamic working environment, enhancing the quality of life for staff. Using an integrated design process, we arrived at a narrow floor plate to optimize daylight in all workspaces, while enhancing collaboration in a large south-facing atrium.

Usually, industrial areas tend not to be pedestrian-friendly, but the Water Centre has an LRT station nearby. The building sits on the edge of the site allowing space for a large garden of native plants, which will be an amenity for both the city workers and the residents of nearby neighbourhoods. The building also boasts fantastic views of the downtown core, and the bold shape of the building can be seen from many vantage points around the downtown area.