Approach

The intersection of 9 Avenue SE and 12 Street SE is a prime location for a development like this to occur, and hence the focus would be towards activating street frontage on both sides. In order to do that, a café will be integrated along with a grocery store and the setbacks are given considering the building bylaws of 3 metres on all the sides. The image shown above reflects massing and orientation. The light blue colour massing indicates commercial space. The dark blue massing indicates residential and support spaces. The main floor will comprise of a grocery store as well as a café and the four floors above that would comprise of luxury condominiums, based on the market analysis.

The building structure will be 4 storeys above a 1-storey podium of retail space at grade and a 2-storey underground parkade. Brick exterior shall be comparable with brick type and colour used on the historic East Calgary Telephone Exchange Building. The buildings street façade will be designed to architecturally delineate the shopping and café spaces.

CGMR Group proposes utilizing existing features from the City-owned historic East Calgary Telephone Exchange Building to design and construct 63 for-sale luxury condominiums. Confluence will not only be an invaluable asset to the neighbourhood around Inglewood, but will also establish a new standard for brownfield site remediation and development within Calgary.

Each condominium will be approximately 600 to 800 square feet in size. An integral feature of their design will be the prominence of the materials complimenting the historic building adjacent to the site. All condominium units will feature exposed brickwork on their façade along with walk-out balconies and unique stonework patterns on the columns. Sandstone material will be used on grocery store exterior walls to synchronize building aesthetics with the prominent heritage buildings on 9 Avenue SE. The colours emphasized on the façade will be red and brown buff shades as this type of design features traditional red and tan brick with punch windows.

The condominiums will offer open and spacious floor plans, ten foot ceilings, a sound retardant floor system, medium finishes including crown moulding in all rooms, new carpeting, full size washer and dryer, granite counter tops, ceramic tile flooring in the bathroom, and generous sized balconies. The entrance of the condominiums and ingress and egress to the parking will be located at the laneway to the rear of the site.

As developers we recognize that a significant aspect of any brownfield redevelopment is the coordination of traffic flow for residents, service providers and retail customers. In order to minimize the impact on surrounding roads and neighbourhoods, the project proposes to maintain and utilize existing access points and traffic control systems. Externally, the vehicular circulation plan maximizes separation between tenant, customer and service uses. Segregation of vehicular and pedestrian traffic is paramount in a mixed-use environment.

It is anticipated that the project will include 80 parking stalls. The loading and service areas will be on the rear side of the development adjacent to the laneway. The physical spaces making up the public realm are not left as stand-alone entities, but will have a relationship to one another as part of a street wide network. The café will also have an outdoor space for sitting integrated in the setback.

Sound dampening measures such as sound attenuation blankets shall be used to reduce noise transmission between the commercial and residential spaces. Pedestrian oriented exterior spaces, as well as site amenities, including furniture and landscaping will be included. Access to the upper residential floors will be supported via an elevator in first floor lobby located adjacent to the commercial spaces. Enclosed egress stairways shall also be provided.

This mixed use development is proposed considering various benefits that it will provide to the neighbourhood such as social/quality of life improvements – the aim is to make it pedestrian friendly while creating a socially connected cultural landscape. Economic benefits include shared public infrastructure and higher rents to improve return on investment. The most significant environmental benefits include a reduction in vehicular dependency for day-to-day grocery shopping, focusing density instead of contributing to sprawl, and supporting transit by being located along the MAX Purple bus line and within a 10 minute walk of the Inglewood/Ramsay Green Line LRT station.