A future in tech: Calgary redefines

A FUTURE IN TECH: CALGARY REDEFINES ITS IDENTITY

By Melanie Franner

Platform Innovation Centre Cafe.

Much like the physical building in which it resides, Platform Calgary embodies the spirit of possibility. This spring, Platform Calgary will open the doors to its new home, the Platform Innovation Centre – a leadingedge innovation hub poised to provide a single point of access to the community and resources needed to help tech startups successfully start and grow their business.

“We’re in soft mode launch right now,” explains Terry Rock, CEO at Platform Calgary. “In 2021, we served over 900 tech companies and founders through the robust programs we currently offer online.”

That number is expected to grow exponentially in the weeks and months ahead as the Platform Innovation Centre opens to the public. “In partnership with more than 70 organizations, our goal is to triple the tech sector in Calgary over the next 10 years,” says Rock.

This achievement would produce 3,000 core tech startups by 2031 and, in turn, create tens of thousands of jobs. It would also add $10 billion to the city’s GDP.

ROOTED IN COLLABORATION

Calgary Municipal Land Corporation (CMLC) led in the delivery of the 250,000 square foot Platform Innovation Centre & Parkade, which transformed a logistically challenging site in the East Village into a mixeduse building design that allows for the future conversion of its space.

The business development plan put forth by Platform Calgary was not for the faint hearted. Adapting the building to perform as a flexible innovation hub serving a growing community with a variety of use cases required a complex construction design, which was then complicated by the COVID19 pandemic.

The forwardthinking Platform Innovation Centre relied upon several partnerships, not the least of which are the building project partners themselves: Calgary Parking Authority; CMLC; EllisDon; M3 Development Management; RNDSQR; and 5468796 Architecture Inc.

As it stands, the iconic building offers 50,000 square feet of innovation space over two storeys housing the Platform Innovation Centre, in addition to five stories of parking. According to the project’s design architects Kasian and 548796 Architecture,

PHOTOS BY MARK L. JOHNSON

Providing complete and selective demolition services since 1954.

Asset Recovery | Deconstruction Industrial | Commercial | Selective | Structural Concrete Cutting & Coring

780-488-4149 www.pacificblasting.com

the parkade incorporates unique considerations (such as increasing the floor heights by one and a half times and the addition of a central atrium that invites natural light through the full height of the building) that allow for the future conversion of the parkade into commercial and/or residential space. This futurefocused building is the first of its kind in North America.

The building also features a basketball court and other groundlevel amenities to encourage the neighbourhood to use the space as more than just a parking garage.

The project design had to consider several site challenges, such as the CP Rail corridor to the south, an LRT transit tunnel and water main (both of which bisected the site), and a utility rightofway corridor. “It was a challenging project to build, and the pandemic added a degree of complexity to everything” says Rock. “With the expertise these partners brought to the table, we were able to make a significant landmark addition to the East Village neighbourhood and to Calgary.”

CALGARY’S HOME FOR INNOVATORS

Platform Calgary fuels some of the city’s brightest minds through programs that support founders, enterprises, and investors. Business founders receive stage and sectorspecific education, advice, and globally

PHOTO BY STANG PHOTOGRAPHY.

connected mentorship to help them ideate, launch, and scale their startup.

Poised to offer a “onestopshop” for tech startups at all stages and sizes, the Platform Innovation Centre will be the new home of Platform Calgary offering innovators, especially those in the early stages of a great idea or business, the space to catalyze, collide, and connect. And its breadth of partners only continues to grow.

“We now have more than 70 tech and innovation partners under one roof that all share the same goal of supporting entrepreneurs in the tech sector,” says Rock, who believes that the number could soon reach 100. “All of them believe that this is what Calgary needs right now.”

Services provided by Platform Calgary in the Innovation Centre will be varied and robust. The facility will offer: • Access to classes, seminars, workshops, and programs for entrepreneurs and industry professionals. • Access to businesses, top talent, and expertise from across Canada and beyond for industry meetups, pitch nights, keynotes, and collisions between entrepreneurs, investors, and founders. • Pitch stage and eventbased community space for 450+ people (80 people for pitch stage only) equipped with display screens, builtin sound system, lights, and streaming cameras to provide a fully immersed digitalfirst experience and the ability to pivot to inperson events. • 50,000 square feet of gathering, meeting, and working spaces, as well as classroom space for startups, innovators, and entrepreneurs. • Spaces and resources for prototyping and testing new technologies.

“People building innovationdriven startups need a whole suite of tools,” says Rock. “Our approach is to provide them with what they need within 15 minutes of walking through the door.”

INHERENT FLEXIBILITY

Flexible in its offerings and resources, Platform Calgary is also proving to be adaptable in its physical environment. The pandemic has redefined workspaces in ways that have yet to be revealed. But there is little doubt that the Platform Innovation Centre has been deliberately designed to meet these changing demands.

“I think there is a lot of uncertainty about how people want to gather,” says Rock. “The attitudes and approaches to workspaces have changed. I feel like we’re building a highperforming community. There’s going to be a learning curve, but we have the technology and flexibility to adapt as we need.”

Looking back on the last few years, Rock sees a marked increase in the volume of activity being generated by Calgary’s tech sector. The sector is not only alive and well, it’s thriving.

And now, with the extensive support and expertise provided by Platform Calgary, the city’s tech sector can only get stronger. As with the very building itself, the Platform Innovation Centre is a departure from the norm and will be a catalyst for the future.

“When entrepreneurs and tech innovators walk through the door of the Platform Innovation Centre,” says Rock, “they will have access to everything they need to achieve success and strengthen the economy for all Calgarians.” n

AWNINGS PROJECTING SIGNS CHANNEL LETTERS DIGITAL BOARDS MONUMENTS

PYLONS SIGN CABINETS TRAFFIC SIGNS WINDOW GRAPHICS INTERIOR SIGNS NEON LETTERS

WAYFINDING