Calgary Urban Design: Best Entrances

Over the past month I have twice been struck by the importance of entrances to urban design and architecture. The first time was at ATCOs Blue Flame Kitchen building. The second was while flaneruing the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology, Johnson-Cobbe Energy Centre. In both cases the entrances made powerful statements that may be welcoming for some and intimidating for others. The one thing they weren’t was bland.

In March 2022, I posted a blog about the importance of welcoming entrances. While there is some overlap in this blog, it contains a greater diversity of entrances from heritage to contemporary buildings, from entrances to bridges to parkades.

Have a look and let me know what you think. What one(s) do you think are the best? Note how many have a triangular shapes or how in several cases sculptures are used to make the entrances more attractive.

This is one of the futuristic entrances on the SAIT campus.

This is the turtle entrance at ATCO’s Blue Flame Kitchen Building.

This glass entrance is to a parkade with a soccer field on the roof.

This strange looking glass structure is the entrance to the huge two block long underground parkade at University District.

This entrance to the Higher Ground cafe.

Along Stephen Avenue Walk there are several wonderful heritage buildings with inviting entrances.

Memorial Park Library has perhaps the most welcoming entrance in Calgary especially in the summer with the flowers.

This sandstone school has two entrances, one for boys and one for girls, which was common in the early 20th century.

Heritage Hall on the SAIT campus has a grand entrance.

Detail of the Heritage Hall entrance.

Calgary’s old city hall has a clock tower entrance.

I believe the Garry Theatre is Calgary’s only marquee entrance.

The McDougall Center a former downtown sandstone school has striking entrance with its elevated pillars and row of arches situated in the middle of park.

The Bow office tower has unique sense of place with the head of a young girl guarding the entrance that is hidden underneath the projecting glass canopy that hides the doors. The sculpture is titled “Wonderland” and was created by Jaume Plensa.

A second view of The Bow office tower’s entrance.

Entrance to the underground Westbrook LRT station.

I love this glass entrance to or from Calgary’s +15 indoor walkway the LRT Station and park.

The Alberta Children’s Hospital has perhaps the most colourful entrance in Caglary.

Next to the hospital is the Child Development Centre with this perhaps the most “fun” entrance with this child-like hand print.

This colourful mural “Joy and Fertility” by Ankh One creates an inviting entrance to what is otherwise a very bland facade of a huge above-ground parkade. It is part of the ambitious BUMP (Beltline Urban Mural Program) that has added 100+ murals in the city centre and beyond.

The Rocky Ridge recreation centre has a very unique skylight entrance.

The BMO Centre is Calgary’s newest “best” entrance with its huge plaza and sculpture. The sculpture is titled “Spirit of Water” by international artist Gerry Judah.

The Sunalta LRT station entrance leads to Caglary’s only elevated station that offers great views of the downtown skyline. The plaza has a sun design and there is a “mother and child” mural that combine to make the entrance more inviting.

Caglary’s Central Library has very dramatic entrance especially at night. The arch shape canopy is inspired by the Southern Alberta’s Chinook Arch cloud formation.

Across the street from the library is the Platform parkade with its block long wave entrance.

Close up of Platform entrance.

The Shaw now Rogers building looks like two buildings, with the glass one jutting out of the stone one. The entrance is guarded by a funky buffalo sculpture.

Love how Van Gogh welcomes visitors to Masters Gallery on 4th Street NW.

Love south-side entrance to the Peace Bridge, with its wavy elevated gardens and art installation. See those coins is the concrete? They are Caitlind Brown and Wayne Garrett’s art installation. They are 12,000 survey monuments each with a short statement that was collected from Calgarians e.g. “watch how your grandchildren grow.” More Information

You could easily spend an hour reading the messages on each monument some of which are quite thought-provoking.

Last Word

It would make a fun scavenger hunt to visit some or all of these entrances, especially in the downtown where there are at least a dozen potential “best entrance” candidates. Let me know what candidates I have missed.