Located adjacent to northwest leg of the LRT, the Dalhousie Mixed Use project represents a substantial densification in keeping with the City of Calgary’s goal of densifying areas in close proximity to LRT stations.  In this case, the project site is proximate to Dalhousie Station, which is accessed directly via an existing linear park approximately 300 metres away.

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The 451 units planned for the site are divided into a north and south tower, spaced apart from one another across a shared courtyard.  This organizes the density into to manageable packages, and encloses a common space between the towers.  The towers themselves focus the courtyard to the west, towards the linear park and views towards the river valley and mountains beyond.

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At the conceptual design stage the decision was made not to break down or bifurcate the tower structures, rather they are expressed as a true rectilinear volumes.  This direction came as a result of our study of contemporary regional artists, particularly Eli Bornstein, and the desire to express the tower facades as strong, pure planar elements.  The tower volumes are treated uniformly by a singular frame detail outlining and defining the edges against the sky.  The frame element presents the façade planes as art objects, and allowed us to array a series of geometric elements across the towers.  Conceptually these elements are an exploration of the prairie/foothill interface as an abstract geometric construct.