hcma architecture + design Converts Calgary Office Tower into University of Calgary Architecture School
The University of Calgary has opened a new downtown campus in the Valentine Building, a striking 37-story tower. This new space, designed by hcma architecture + design, occupies nine floors and encompasses 180,000 square feet. Classes began in January, with a formal opening set for September. Dean John Brown emphasized the project’s alignment with community values. The building features a unique look, using exposed concrete and black hot-rolled steel, and classrooms are creatively arranged at 45-degree angles. The campus includes areas for undergraduates, a social hub, graduate studies, and an annex with makerspaces. This project also showcases how vacant office buildings can be transformed for educational use, addressing Calgary's 30 percent office vacancy rate.
Key facts
- The University of Calgary’s School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape (SAPL) has 1,200 students.
- The new campus occupies 9 floors of the 37-story Valentine Building in downtown Calgary.
- The building was completed in 1982 and was vacant from 2013 until the school’s quiet opening in January.
- hcma architecture + design led the project, with principal Darin Harding; the design was completed in 16 months.
- The 180,000-square-foot space includes four levels of undergraduate space, a social floor, and upper floors for graduate studies and administration.
- The design exposes raw concrete and black hot-rolled steel, with desks arranged at 45-degree angles to align with the city grid.
- Circular classrooms informed by Indigenous teaching practices feature pivot doors for flexible use.
- The tower’s 3-story annex, connected by a skywalk, houses the school’s makerspaces, including a woodshop, model-making studio, and robotics lab.
- A grand opening is planned for September, with a party in the building and neighboring park.
- Downtown Calgary office vacancies hover near 30 percent, and the architecture school is currently the Valentine Building’s only tenant.
Entities
Artists
- John Brown
- Darin Harding
- Stefan Novakovic
- Toni Morrison
Institutions
- hcma architecture + design
- University of Calgary
- School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape (SAPL)
- Valentine Building
- City Lab
- Expo
Locations
- Calgary
- Canada
- Alberta
- Toronto