What makes architecture uniquely Albertan?

Perhaps a better question might be what architecture has helped make Alberta unique?

The sod hut of the early Prairie settler is one building form associated with this region, and so is the wooden fort of the Mounties in the fur-trading era.

The railway station is yet another, in whatever size the whistlestop town or growing city called for.

Photos courtesy of Alberta Association of Arch
The Coronation Swimming Pool in Edmonton was designed by Peter Hemingway and offers an eight-lane, 50-metre pool.

Did I mention grain elevators?

There are other buildings still standing across this province that are more individual than typical and also express what I might call “Albertanness.”

Recently, the Alberta Association of Architects selected 50 such significant projects, and posted the results on its website (www.aaa.ab.ca).

They include Grande Prairie Regional College, the Banff Springs Hotel redevelopment, Edmonton City Hall and the University of Lethbridge. Even the local school on the Driftpile First Nation, located on the shores of Lesser Slave Lake has been recognized for its eagle feather-inspired design representing the spirit of wisdom and strength.

Citadel Theatre in Churchill Square in Edmonton, above, and St. Stephen’s Byzantine Ukrainian Catholic Church in Calgary, below, were both recognized.

Selecting buildings wasn’t an easy task.

“There are hundreds of award- winning buildings in Alberta,” says Tim Sahuri, a vice-president of the Alberta Association of Architects who works at Calgary-based Hutchinson Architects. “To get 50 we had to make some hard choices.”

Alberta Economic Development was the AAA’s strategic partner in the project, helping with funds and research as part of its strategy for the promotion of the architecture, engineering and construction sector of the economy. It was decided that 50 buildings would be a reasonable number for the first segment.

Among other criteria, an Alberta architect had to be involved in the project, which also had to have garnered an award. The projects had to represent a broad cross-section of architecture from across the province, not just in the major centres. Homes were not included. The idea was to represent a typical range of architecture, says Sahuri. There were many worthy buildings that couldn’t be included, so the AAA is already looking at a second set.



“Architecture is in everybody’s life,” he says. “If you are in school or in an office, or in many industrial buildings, you are in architecture . . . that’s what makes it special.”

The choices run across the province from north to south, east to west. Banff Town Hall and the Royal Tyrrell Museum in Drumheller are both included, as are St. Albert Place and Medicine Hat City Hall.

Some of the chosen buildings are easily identifiable, such as Edmonton City Hall and the Calgary Tower. Others, such as the Tyrrell and the Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump Interpretive Centre, blend into their surroundings like part of the landscape.

There are several good examples of public architecture – interpretive centres, municipal halls, educational institutions.

Commercial architecture is also represented by structures such as TransAlta’s corporate headquarters in Calgary’s Beltline and Bankers Hall in the downtown core. In my opinion, the towers of Bankers Hall will be considered Calgary’s signature buildings for a long time to come.

Across Canada

Non-residential building continued to perk along in the third quarter as business and government invested more for the fifth quarter in a row.

The record $6.6-billion investment, up two per cent from the second quarter, was the result of record institutional investment and strong industrial-sector growth, says Statistics Canada.

The federal statistical agency reports that institutional construction spending rose 1.7 per cent to $2.3 billion. Industrial construction rose nine per cent to $1.3 billion and commercial construction dropped half a per cent to $3 billion.

The construction industry has been growing since the start of the year, racking up 5.9-per-cent growth for the three quarters.

Non-residential building investment grew in 11 provinces and territories, and 18 of 28 census metropolitan areas, StatsCan says.

Calgary had 12.3-per-cent growth in commercial construction to lead Alberta to a 3.7-per-cent growth rate.

Web Watch:
www.aaa.ab.ca