It was a little over two years ago that the design teams were announced by Arts Commons CEO Alex Sarian, setting the stage—quite literally—for the complete transformation Arts Commons.
As part of the overall redesign of Arts Commons, the design for a new transformative theatre and arts space located on the northwest corner of Olympic Plaza was unveiled on April 4, marking the next phase of work on Canada’s largest arts project.
The new building is set to contain a 1,000 seat theatre, a 200-seat studio theatre, and performance spaces built into an expansive and open lobby concept, with design elements taken from local Alberta Indigenous culture.
“Showing this design to Calgary for the first time publicly is such an incredible feeling. On the one hand we’ve been working on it with community, so this is not something that we’ve been designing in a vacuum,” said Sarian.
“The fact that this is of and for Calgary means that we’ve been working with Calgary, but it is nerve wracking to be able to finally showcase it up for the first time.”
The new theatre complex expansion project is part of an overall transformation of Arts Commons, which includes modernization plans for the main Arts Commons campus building along with a redesigned Olympic Plaza.
Sarian said that thus far, the feedback that he has received about the new theatre building set to be built ahead of the 2028 theatre season in the northwest corner of Olympic Plaza has been encouraging.
“It’s an incredibly moving experience, and in many ways, this is just getting started,” he said.
New building to be flexible to the needs of many different performance groups and companies
The design goals for the complex makes it one of the most unique theatre venues in the city.
The 162,000 sq. ft. three-storey building will hold the two theatres, with the main larger theatre being able to be reconfigured thanks to a hydraulic stage in the centre of the space.
For performers and artists, this means that performances can be held in the traditional stage format or in more interactive cabaret or theatre-in-the-round formats.
The lobby of the building is also based around a central circle that will allow for the public to congregate or off-theatre performances to be held.
“The idea that you can have collective communal experiences at Arts Commons without having bought a ticket, that’s really the goal,” said Sarian.
“One of the things we talked about here is Arts Commons as steward of an ecosystem within which you have different resident companies and community groups. What we strive to do is create an environment within which anything is possible.”
Mayor Jyoti Gondek, who has served as a long-time champion for the Arts Common transformation project since her time as Ward 3 councillor said that the new theatre building was an important step for the arts in Calgary.
“The design that we saw today is absolutely beautiful and it absolutely recognizes Indigenous peoples and Indigenous cultures and traditions. Indigenous communities have long believed that the arts are part of our soul, and so we’re able to celebrate something that’s incredibly important in terms of a project today, but we’re also really moving along that journey towards reconciliation by honoring indigenous peoples here as well,” the mayor said.
She said that the investment that Calgary city council made towards the half-billion dollar overall Arts Commons Transformation Project was an important one not only the welfare of Calgary’s citizens, but the economy as well.
“The creative economy is absolutely booming right now, and we will be left behind as a city if we don’t continue to continue to invest in the arts,” Mayor Gondek said.
“We are recognized for being a place where the arts community is embraced for all that it means for us. It’s a sense of community, it’s a great spirit, but it’s also part of the economy, and I think that’s what makes projects like this incredibly important.”
Theatre elements based on Alberta Indigenous design
Kevin Bridgman, Partner at KPMB, representing the prime design team of KPMB Architects, Hindle Architects, and Tawaw Architecture Collective, said that the design team had put a great deal of effort into making sure that the design was one that built community.
“There’s simply a powerful idea that inspired our design: A new facility is thoughtfully connected to its history, into its culture, and is designed with respect for its surroundings,” Bridgman said.
He said that the goal was to create a building that wasn’t just a drop in placement that could be found in any other city.
“We’re always looking for a driving idea that’s going to help us make decisions on how it should feel when you come in. How do we make a rugged communal building for the arts for Calgary that really wouldn’t fit anywhere else,” he said.
Wanda della Costa, Partner with Tawaw Architecture Collective, said that during the design process there was a desire to create a space that reflected the importance of Olympic Plaza to Indigenous Albertans.
“When we went through our process, we were trying to find spaces in places within the entire program that we could host Indigenous lifeways. So, storytelling, a round dance, a sharing circle, a powwow,” she said.
“It was very important to be able to bring our community into this space. So the two prime spots… are that the corner that we’re showing, as the sort of central elements as well as inside the performer centre inside the theatre. We love it that the floor can go flat instead of with seats, and then we can actually have a proper Indigenous performance in that space.”
Setting Calgary up for the world’s stage
When CMLC first set forth the design challenge to the design team, it was a lofty goal, said Kate Thompson, CEO of CMLC.
“But being able to showcase what we’ve been working on for the past many months, through various meetings with our teams and discussions, and deep dives, and being able to actually share this is where we’re going is a really significant day for for the design team,” she said.
“And also for Calgary.”
Thompson said that the initial goal of the Arts Common Transformation project began with the concept of an expanded theatre complex. That was quickly and fortunately expanded upon with the addition of the Olympic Plaza redesign.
“You really almost can’t do one without the other. That’s what the design team told us, and is what we all knew,” Thompson said.
“For it to really flourish and to be a place of destination, we needed both of those things to work together, including a modernization of our existing Arts Commons facility.”
She said that the new design highlighted the enviable position that CMLC was in to get to be involved in creating great new public structures in Calgary, including the Calgary Central Library and the BMO Centre.
“What’s really interesting over the last 10 years, we get asked more and more every year, ‘how do you guys do it? ‘And you guys being ‘how does Calgary do that? And what is Calgary Municipal Land Corporation doing differently?’” Thompson said.
“I don’t exactly have all the answers to that, but I’d say that we are getting noticed. Calgary’s getting noticed for raising the bar and for having high expectations, and when you have high expectations everyone seems to rise to it.”
