Design team to transform Calgary’s Arts Commons

via On-Site

Local and international experts to reimagine Calgary’s premier arts and culture centre.

Calgary Municipal Land Corporation (CMLC), together with partners Arts Commons and the City of Calgary, have announced that Toronto-based KPMB will lead the team that will design the expansion and renewal of Arts Commons, one of Canada’s largest arts centres, through the Arts Commons Transformation (ACT) project. KPMB will work with First-Nations firm Tawaw Architecture Collective Inc., Calgary-based Hindle Architects, and SLA, a design studio from Denmark. This design team is expected to bring a rich variety of perspectives and specialties to the major civic upgrade.

KPMB is a pedigreed architectural firm with expertise in major arts and theatre projects, including Toronto’s Massey Hall and the Allied Music Centre, the Royal Conservatory TELUS Centre for Performance and Learning, Minneapolis’s Orchestra Hall, Toronto’s TIFF Bell Lightbox, Boston University’s Center for Computer and Data Sciences, and the Banff Centre for Arts & Creativity. Tawaw, which is headed by Calgarian Wanda Dalla Costa, Canada’s first female First Nations architect, will ensure the Indigenous perspective is thoughtfully and meaningfully woven into all aspects of the design. And Hindle Architects is a local firm with a history of successful projects around Calgary.

Over the past year, the project partners have been working through the planning process to create a functional plan and business model for the expansion, conducting a building assessment and carrying out public engagement. As ACT development manager, CMLC led the selection process, working with representatives from the city and Arts Commons to consider proposals from 29 firms.

Currently home to five theatres and the Jack Singer Concert Hall, Arts Commons will be transformed over two phases. The first, which is now fully funded