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Originally Posted by DoubleK
I'll bite. HOK is best of breed when it comes to sports facilities. You are dropping $600M+ on this undertaking. I can't think of a single reason to not go for a top firm. I don't think it's as simple as being local and being capable of doing the job.
Cana just did the refresh at Max Bell, doesn't mean they are the best to build the event center.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Muta
You're right, HOK is one of the well-known sports design firms out there right now, I agree. That doesn't mean someone local, if given the chance, can't do it just as well. There's lots of designers in Calgary who have worked on arena projects of all sizes, and big international projects. You're assuming they can't do what HOK can, and that's just not true. Give them the chance. Arenas are not structurally complex facilities. It's more about a smart and compelling vision, and executing on that.
Did you know a local firm designed the Saddledome? Obviously it's outdated now, but at the time, was a beacon of design and engineering achievement.
Keep in mind, the Flames Event Centre design to date, and Rogers Place in Edmonton, are HOK specials. If you think those are mind-blowing designs just because it's HOK, then I'm not sure what to say. I realize there's lots of factors that go into the design that's shown publicly (including client preference and value engineering which the public does not see), but if you think that product is something that could have only been done outside of Calgary, we'll have to just agree to disagree.
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Graham Edmunds, now GEC, is the original architect of the saddledome
its mainly a question of risk imo. At the end of the day, these major projects are going to want firms that 'know what they are doing'. While a big firm who has done libraries for example, may have the bodies and capacity to do the Cancer center or new concert hall, would you really want them too?
I agree that firms have the capacity to grow and evolve and there maybe firms locally that are good, but the evaluation matrix usually rates experience pretty high... Which is why so many local firms reach out to outside 'design partners', even if they have experience in that typology themselves.
I think the problem is that sometimes, you can get the 'B' team with the internationals, who are more interested in more exotic locals. This is not to say that you can't get a great project, like the library or the Telus building (though Vancouver's version is a better imo, despite the leaks)...but the brain trust of said firm has usually moved onto the next project by the end of schematic design