A highly aesthetic steel-glass structure and post-and-rail design created by seele, the global building envelope specialist, at the project Brookfield Place in Calgary, Canada.

Brookfield Place, Calgary, Canada

5,815sqm

post-and-rail façade  

570t

primary steelwork  

672sqm

post-and-rail façade for two +15 bridges

brookfield place - steel-and-glass design

Brookfield Place is one of the tallest and most impressive real estate projects in the Canadian city of Calgary. The development consists of two towers, the taller of which is 247m high and has 56 floors. It is this taller tower that was built in the first phase. seele has been appointed to design and build the façade to the base of the tower, a pavilion, a glass kiosk and two +15 bridges. The latter were needed to tie Brookfield Place into Calgary’s +15 Skyway, a system of pedestrian walkways about 4.5m above the ground which extends 18km across the city.

The lightweight design and vast expanses of glass of the pavilion invite visitors to stop and linger. It has a façade totalling 2,200sqm (delicate steel glass design) and an approx. 700sqm glass-roof of the same aesthetics, which turn the enormous dimensions of the Brookfield Place project into an imposing spatial experience. seele’s scope comprised some 570t of structural steelwork for the pavilion.

  • A great deal of effort has been taken to conceal this primary structure and hence direct the observer’s attention to the three-dimensional steel-and-glass vista. Besides the elaborate pavilion, seele was also responsible for the keen lines of the highly aesthetic “architectural steelwork” framing the façade at the base of the tower ‒ the three bottommost rows of panes fronting the lobby. Large-format insulating glass units measuring 3m x 5m or 3m x 6m were used here.

    Only the glass and the precision silicone joints are visible from outside. The result is a homogenous surface without any external fixing elements. The glazing to all four elevations at the base of the tower adds up to 3,600sqm and is in the form of a steel post-and-rail façade with laminated safety glass.

  • Broookfield Place in Calgary consists of two towers with up to 247m height and 56 floors.
  • The lightweight design and vast expanses of glass of the pavilion of the brookfield place invites visitors to stop and linger.
  • seele's scope comprises 570t structural steelwork for the pavilion of the brookfield place in calgary.
  • From the outside only the glass and the precision silicone are visible from outside of the Brookfield Place in Calgary what results in a homogenous surface.
Broookfield Place in Calgary consists of two towers with up to 247m height and 56 floors.
© James Brittain
The lightweight design and vast expanses of glass of the pavilion of the brookfield place invites visitors to stop and linger.
© seele
seele's scope comprises 570t structural steelwork for the pavilion of the brookfield place in calgary.
© James Brittain
From the outside only the glass and the precision silicone are visible from outside of the Brookfield Place in Calgary what results in a homogenous surface.
© seele

Credits

Client Brookfield Place (Calgary) LP
Main contractor EllisDon Construction Services Inc.
Architect Arney Fender Katsalidis & DIALOG
Engineer Entuitive
Date of completion 2017
Scope of work by seele
  • Lobby / Base of tower: steel glass post-and-rail façade (3,572sqm)
  • Pavilion façade: steel glass post-and-rail design (2,243sqm)
  • Pavilion roof: steel glass design with aluminium glazing bars (715sqm)
  • 570t primary steel structure of the entire pavilion
  • +15 bridges: aluminium-and-glass post-and-rail façade (672sqm)
  • Kiosk: aluminium-and-glass post-and-rail façade with integral folding sliding doors (77sqm)