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Suncor Energy Centre

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Suncor Energy Centre
Petro-Canada Centre in 1991 (now Suncor Energy Centre)
Map
General information
StatusCompleted
TypeOffice
Location150 6th Avenue SW
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Coordinates51°02′53″N 114°03′48″W / 51.04806°N 114.06333°W / 51.04806; -114.06333
Construction startedApril 2, 1982[1]
Topped-outMay 26, 1983 (West)
Completed1984
CostCAD$200-million (equivalent to $714-million in 2023)
OwnerBrookfield Properties & ARCI Inc.
ManagementBrookfield Properties
Height
Roof215 m (705 ft) (west),[3] 130 m (427 ft) (east)[4]
Technical details
Floor count53 (west), 32 (east)
Floor area101,258 m2 (1,089,930 sq ft) (west) 45,410 m2 (488,800 sq ft) (east)[2]
Design and construction
Architect(s)WZMH Architects
DeveloperBrookfield Properties
Main contractorCANA Construction Company Limited

The Suncor Energy Centre,[5] formerly the Petro-Canada Centre, is a 181,000-square-metre (1,950,000 sq ft) project composed of two granite and reflective glass-clad office towers of 32 floors and 52 floors, in the office core of downtown Calgary, Alberta. The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat lists the west tower (215 m or 705 ft as measured to top of the structure), as the 23rd tallest building in Canada and the 6th tallest skyscraper outside of Toronto, as of 2023.[2] The west tower overtook the Calgary Tower as the tallest free-standing structure in Calgary from its completion in 1984, until being surpassed by the neighbouring Bow in 2010.[6] The office towers encompass 158,000 m2 (1,700,000 sq ft) of rentable office space with the complex also containing 23,000 m2 (250,000 sq ft) of retail and underground parking area. A glass-enclosed walkway (part of the +15 System) provides shelter and easy access to the surrounding buildings.

The building was often called Red Square in its early years, a derisive reference to its primary occupant Petro-Canada, which was a federal Crown Corporation created under Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau's National Energy Program.[7] Following the completion of the complex in 1984, one writer for the Calgary Herald described the buildings as "a twin-towered, $200-million monument to socialism", and later Premier Peter Lougheed would blame Petro-Canada and the two towers for the collapse of the Calgary real-estate boom, in part by flooding the market.[8] Petro-Canada was privatized in 1991 under the Brian Mulroney government and acquired in 2009 by the complex's current namesake, Suncor Energy, which continues to operate the company as a subsidiary.[9]

History

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Planning for the complex began in the late-1970s following the creation of Petro-Canada. Petro-Canada came to an agreement with the West German firm ARCI Inc. to jointly develop an ARCI-owned site in Calgary to host the Crown Corporation's new headquarters.[1] ARCI Inc served as an investment corporation, which had purchased the site several years early, and continues to be owned by the German House of Arenberg.[1] In May 1980, a $200-million design was proposed with an all-glass, three-tower design including a 25-storey tower to be completed in 1982 and a larger 50-storey tower completed later in 1983.[10] The Calgary Planning Commission rejected the proposal in Fall 1980 as the site was not large enough for the density three towers would provide, and the all-glass design was not desirable for the city. Subsequently, Petro-Canada purchased the air rights from the neighbouring Calgary Chamber of Commerce for $2.5 million and received approval for a granite-clad two-tower design with a density bonus option of four storeys on the smaller tower.[1]

Construction on the complex began on April 2, 1982.[1] During construction, local controversy arose when no Canadian bids were received to supply the site with exterior granite cladding, which resulted in the use of $500,000 of Finnish granite, which was cut and polished in Italy and shipped to the Calgary site for installation.[1] Another local controversy was the installation of bilingual signage (French and English), which Petro-Canada head office insisted upon.[1] On January 4, 1983, the West tower reached 191 metres in height, exceeding the Calgary Tower and becoming the tallest freestanding structure in Calgary and Western Canada.[11] The 52-storey west tower was topped off on May 26, 1983,[12] and the complex was completed in 1984.[1]

During construction in April 1983, one of the site's tower cranes collapsed, killing its operator.[13][14]

In December 1998, Petro-Canada sold their remaining half interest in the complex to Gentra Inc. (former subsidiary of Brookfield Properties) for $200 million (equivalent to $344 million in 2023), which included Petro-Canada signing a 15-year lease to remain in the towers.[15]

Major tenants

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Major tenants of the Suncor Energy Centre include Suncor Energy Inc., Precision Drilling Corporation, Taqa North, Crescent Point Energy, Enbridge, Direct Energy, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Weatherford Canada.

See also

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Suncor Energy Centre.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Liverant, Bettina (January 8, 1984). "A personal look at Calgary's Petro-Canada Centre: Imperfectly Canadian". Calgary Herald.
  2. ^ a b "Suncor Energy Centre I". Skyscraper Center. Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat. Retrieved December 18, 2023.
  3. ^ Emporis (2007). "Petro-Canada Centre - West Tower". Archived from the original on July 1, 2004. Retrieved April 12, 2007.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  4. ^ Emporis (2007). "Petro-Canada Centre - East Tower". Archived from the original on October 28, 2006. Retrieved April 12, 2007.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  5. ^ The Canadian Press (August 4, 2009). "Suncor rebrands 'Red Square'". CBC News. Archived from the original on August 7, 2009. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
  6. ^ "The Bow rises as Calgary's tallest building". CBC News. July 8, 2010. Archived from the original on September 28, 2013. Retrieved March 17, 2020.
  7. ^ Fotheringham, Allan (November 14, 1983). "The 52-storey federal insult". Maclean's. p. 88. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
  8. ^ Smith, Donald B. (2005). Calgary's Grand Story: The Making of a Prairie Metropolis from the Viewpoint of Two Heritage Buildings. Calgary, AB: University of Calgary Press. p. 282. ISBN 9781552381748.
  9. ^ "Suncor, Petro-Canada announce merger". CBC News. March 23, 2009. Retrieved July 9, 2020.
  10. ^ Willoughby, Jack (May 16, 1980). "Calgary Head Office to cost Petro-Canada $200 million". The Globe and Mail. pp. B2.
  11. ^ Martin, Don (January 5, 1983). "Tower loses top status". Calgary Herald. p. 1.
  12. ^ Atkinson, Don (May 27, 1983). "PetroCan tops tower". Calgary Herald. pp. D1.
  13. ^ Collins, Ron (April 25, 1983). "Killer crane taken down". Calgary Herald. p. B1. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
  14. ^ Lee, Gordon (April 22, 1983). "Plan to move dangling crane wreck studied". Calgary Herald. Retrieved July 9, 2020.
  15. ^ Howlett, Karen (December 9, 1998). "Gentra buys half-interest in Petro-Canada Centre". The Globe and Mail. p. B6.
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