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BUILDING |
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The Bow
EnCana and Cenovus Headquarters |
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DESIGNER |
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DESCRIPTION |
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 Special events have been held in Calgary this week to mark the official opening of The Bow, a 237- metre-high headquarters tower – the city’s tallest building and Canada’s tallest tower outside Toronto. A bold new landmark on the skyline, the project is equally significant in urban, social and environmental terms: the public base of the tower is filled with shops, restaurants and cafes and extends into a generous landscaped plaza, while the office floors are punctuated by three six-storey sky gardens, which encourage natural ventilation and help to significantly reduce energy use.
 The Bow is the first major development on the east side of Centre Street, a major axis through downtown Calgary, and it provides a shared headquarters for Encana and Cenovus. The building’s form was shaped by analysis of the climate and organisations. The tower faces south, curving towards the sun to take advantage of daylight and heat, while maximising the perimeter for cellular offices with views of the Rocky Mountains. By turning the convex facade into the prevailing wind, the structural loading is minimised, thus reducing the amount of steel required for the inherently efficient diagrid system. Each triangulated section of the structure spans six storeys, helping to visually break down the scale of the building.
Where the building curves inwards, the glazed facade is pulled forward to create a series of atria that run the full height of the tower. These spaces act as climatic buffer zones, insulating the building and helping to significantly reduce energy consumption. As each floor plate has been sized to accommodate a whole business unit, there was a need to promote collaboration across the companies and bring a social dimension to the office spaces. Vertical access to the office floors is therefore directed through three spectacular sky gardens, which project into the atria at levels 24, 42 and 54 and incorporate mature trees, seating, meeting rooms, catering facilities and local lift cores. Staff facilities in these atria are complemented by an auditorium at the very top of the building.
The Bow also establishes lateral connections with surrounding buildings. The tower is fused at two points to Calgary’s system of enclosed walkways, which offers a retreat from the city’s harsh winters. The second floor is open to the public and integrates shops and cafes, and with the only public connection over Centre Street, the scheme completes a vital pedestrian link in the downtown network. Externally, the building’s arc defines a large landscaped public plaza, at the heart of which is a landmark sculpture by Spanish artist, Jaume Plensa. |
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| Nigel Dancey, Senior Partner, Foster + Partners: |
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 “The tower’s form was shaped by the unique Calgary climate – facing south, the building curves to define a series of spectacular light-filled six-storey atria, with mature sky gardens, cafes and meeting areas, which bring a vital social dimension to the office floors. This principle extends to the base of the tower, which is highly permeable, with a +15 enclosed bridge connection to downtown, an atrium of shops and cafes and a fantastic new plaza. Every aspect, from the raised floors to the diagrid structure, is designed to be highly efficient. The Bow is a bold new symbol for Calgary, and is testament to the strength of our team and excellent local relationships.” |
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VIDEO |
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MATERIALS |
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steel, glass 39,000 tonnes of steel was used
900,000 sq.ft. of glass was used
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ECO-SUSTAINABILITY |
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 The building’s form deflects the prevailing winds, allowing for a lighter structure
The solar heat collected in the atrium is redistributed throughout the year by means of extraction during winter and heat exchange during summer, reducing the load on the mechanical systems
3 x 6 storey-high “Sky gardens” with natural vegetation at levels 24, 42 and 54
Large glazed areas reduce the need for artificial lighting Heat redistribution system
Displacement ventilation via a raised floor |
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LOCATION |
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| Continent |
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North America |
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| Nation |
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 Canada |
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 Alberta |
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Calgary |
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| Town |
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 Calgary |
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| Address |
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6 Ave. SE, Centre St. SW, 5 Ave. SE, 1 St. SE
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| Telephone |
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| Fax |
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| Website |
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MAP |
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TYPOLOGY |
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Main |
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ARCHITECTURE | Buildings for offices and professional practises
Offices
Vertical architectures
Skyscrapers
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Additional |
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ARCHITECTURE | Buildings for cultural activities
Conference halls
Commercial buildings
Shops
Urban equipment and structures for public areas
Streets and squares
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LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE AND NATURAL ENVIRONMENTS | Landscape architecture
Hanging gardens
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CHRONOLOGY |
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Project |
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2005
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Realisation |
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2007 - 2013 |
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AWARDS |
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| 2012 |
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National Award
Canadian Institute of Steel Construction |
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| 2011 |
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Alberta Steel Design Award of Excellence
Canadian Institute of Steel Contractors |
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| 2011 |
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Award of Excellence
Canadian Institute of Steel construction, Ontario Awards |
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| 2011 |
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Award of Excellence
Alberta Chapter American Concrete Institute |
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BIBILIOGRAPHIC REFERENCES |
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| Ian Volner, "A natural stance. Foster + Partners", Architect 2/2012, february 2012, pp. 52-57 |
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CLIENT |
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| H+R Real Estate Investment Trust |
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DIMENSIONAL
DATA |
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| Surface |
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site: sq.m. 17,500 (sq.ft. 188,300)
gross external: sq.m. 199,781 (sq.ft. 2,149,644)
typical floor (net): sq.m. 3,584 (sq.ft. 38,564) |
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| Height |
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| Floors |
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| Capacity |
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4.000 peoples
1.360 car spaces |
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STRUCTURES |
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LANDSCAPE DESIGN |
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STAFF |
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| Project |
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| Construction management |
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| Matthews Southwest Developments |
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| Project architect |
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Norman Foster
David Nelson
Spencer de Grey
Nigel Dancey
James Barnes |
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| Design team |
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| Julia Vidal Alvarez, Laura Alvey, Tim Bauerfeind, Jakob Beer, Karin Bergmann, Mattias Bertelmann, Stephen Best, Federico Bixio, Marie Christoffersen, Vasco Correia, Kirsten Davis, Ulrich Hamman, Michelle Johnson, Arjun Kaicker, Sabine Kellerhoff, Chiu-Ming Benny Lee, Mathieu Le Sueur, Shirley Shee Ying Leung, Alissa MacInnes, Carsten Mundle, Florian Oelschlager, Cristina Perez, Susanne Reiher, Diana Schaffrannek, Anja Schuppan, Carolin Senfleben, Robert Smith, Eva Tzivanki |
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| Associate architect |
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| Civil engineer |
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| Mechanical engineer |
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| General contractor |
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| Fire safety |
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| Vertical transportation |
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| Acoustical consultant |
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| Quantity surveyor |
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| Lighting design |
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| Claude Engle Lighting Design |
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| Planning and organization |
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| Environmental design |
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| Aerodynamics and weather resistant consultant |
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| Transport planning |
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| Graphics and signage |
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| Specialist consultant |
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| Artistic consultant |
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| Art intervention |
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| Cladding consultant |
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ANNOTATIONS |
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 The Bow will be the tallest building in Canada outside of Toronto and the third tallest in Canada overall
It is Canada’s largest steel-framed building
It has the largest floor area of any single office building designed by Foster + Partners
The raft slab for the foundation was the largest single concrete pour in Canadian construction history, using 94 concrete trucks and taking 39.5 hours
The foundations are 3m thick and contain 14,000m3 of concrete
The intersecting triangular sections of the south atrium wall form the largest diagrid of Architecturally Exposed Structural Steel (AESS) in the world
400,000m3 of land was excavated
Approximately 1 floor was built each week
There are 40 elevators, including an express elevator serving Ground to Skygarden |
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CREDITS |
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Photos © Nigel Young / Foster + Partners
Drawings © Foster + Partners
Text edited by Foster + Partners
Courtesy by Foster + Partners
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