[News] UPD: Aug 4 released renderings of Event Centre in OP (+ new ext. renders in post #704)

[Parallex]

Originally Posted by rotten42

Because the "in-game" experience is what is more important here rather than how good it looks on a post card.

Strongly disagree. The outside of the building is what people will experience 99.999%+ of the time. I see the Saddledome almost everyday but I'm rarely ever inside of it. The exterior, what it includes & how it interacts with the surrounding streets is going to be be way more relevant and important to significantly more people then the "in-game" experience.

[Jay Random]

Originally Posted by Parallex

Strongly disagree. The outside of the building is what people will experience 99.999%+ of the time.

99.999%: that means only 1 in 100,000 of the people who go by the building are actually going inside. I don't think Victoria Park is attracting that much traffic apart from the arena, do you?

[Shazam]

Vic Park is getting busier these days. Village Ice Cream is great.

[Stanley]

Originally Posted by Parallex

Strongly disagree. The outside of the building is what people will experience 99.999%+ of the time. I see the Saddledome almost everyday but I'm rarely ever inside of it. The exterior, what it includes & how it interacts with the surrounding streets is going to be be way more relevant and important to significantly more people then the "in-game" experience.

Disagree. The exterior is what people will SEE, LOOK, and JUDGE by.
The interior/in-game is what fans will EXPERIENCE.

[Stanley]

Now, if we're talking about exterior big screens, food trucks/kiosks/patio pubs and just general outdoor entertainment to compliment the in-game then yes that's part of the "experience"...

[Parallex]

Originally Posted by Jay Random

I don't think Victoria Park is attracting that much traffic apart from the arena

If that continues then the whole project and the whole district revitalization plan was a massive waste of both time and money.

Originally Posted by Stanley

Disagree. The exterior is what people will SEE, LOOK, and JUDGE by. The interior/in-game is what fans will EXPERIENCE.

Seeing something is experiencing it. A tiny percentage of people can experience the interior on any given day but almost everybody can experience the exterior.

[Jay Random]

Originally Posted by Shazam

Vic Park is getting busier these days. Village Ice Cream is great.

How often do 18,000 customers show up at Village Ice Cream, though?

According to the City of Calgary traffic flow maps for 2019 (the most recent available to the public), traffic on 12 Ave. west of 4 St. is about 10,000 vehicles per day, and about the same on 4 St. going north. Let's be generous and suppose that 80 percent of the total volume of people there are going through on foot (they ain't). That makes 100,000. Then triple that for the development in the arena district.

We are now at 300,000 people passing by the arena every day. Are only three of those people actually going inside?

OK, obviously Parallex doesn't literally mean ‘99.999%’ (though that is a peeve of mine). Still – what other attraction in that area is going to draw 18,000 people at a time, outside of Stampede week? It's a stated assumption that the arena is going to draw traffic to the restaurants and other businesses in the district, not the other way round. People aren't being drawn to the arena so they can stand outside gawking at the facade.

As long as the exterior of the arena is at least inoffensive and doesn't repel passersby, it's doing its job. Better would be nice, of course – and I do get that 1970s vibe from the renders we've seen in this thread so far. But I'm not seeing any dealbreakers.

[Muta]

Originally Posted by Jay Random

I don't think Victoria Park is attracting that much traffic apart from the arena, do you?

The extension of 17th Ave into Stampede Park and then connected back up to Olympic Way SE, along with the convention centre / proposed retail at its base, the proposed hotel behind it, the event centre and all the future development that will inevitably be built up that way will make the neighborhood quite a bit busier.

[Shazam]

Originally Posted by Jay Random

How often do 18,000 customers show up at Village Ice Cream, though?

According to the City of Calgary traffic flow maps for 2019 (the most recent available to the public), traffic on 12 Ave. west of 4 St. is about 10,000 vehicles per day, and about the same on 4 St. going north. Let's be generous and suppose that 80 percent of the total volume of people there are going through on foot (they ain't). That makes 100,000. Then triple that for the development in the arena district.

We are now at 300,000 people passing by the arena every day. Are only three of those people actually going inside?

OK, obviously Parallex doesn't literally mean ‘99.999%’ (though that is a peeve of mine). Still – what other attraction in that area is going to draw 18,000 people at a time, outside of Stampede week? It's a stated assumption that the arena is going to draw traffic to the restaurants and other businesses in the district, not the other way round. People aren't being drawn to the arena so they can stand outside gawking at the facade.

As long as the exterior of the arena is at least inoffensive and doesn't repel passersby, it's doing its job. Better would be nice, of course – and I do get that 1970s vibe from the renders we've seen in this thread so far. But I'm not seeing any dealbreakers.

All I'm saying is it's getting busier. No, ice cream store will not have 93 million customers. I just said it because you should visit it sometime, assuming you can interact with people IRL without turning it into something exhausting.

Get over yourself.

[Reaper]

Originally Posted by Muta

The extension of 17th Ave into Stampede Park and then connected back up to Olympic Way SE, along with the convention centre / proposed retail at its base, the proposed hotel behind it, the event centre and all the future development that will inevitably be built up that way will make the neighborhood quite a bit busier.

I can totally see the 17th Ave/Olympic Way route becoming the downtown bypass for cars going to Inglewood from the south via Macleod Trail and east from the beltline. With a C Train station planned for just north of the arena it will definitely become a high traffic area. There will be people waiting for busses, getting dropped off, etc. to keep the area frequented regularly. Unfortunately, I think that there will be more traffic jams than just game days.

[SebC]

You don't have to be in Victoria Park to see the Saddledome. You can be driving down McLeod, on Scotsman's hill, browsing Instagram, or receiving a postcard in Timbuktu.

If you're getting public money for a stadium close to downtown it should not look like crap in front of the skyline.

[Beatle17]

Originally Posted by SebC

You don't have to be in Victoria Park to see the Saddledome. You can be driving down McLeod, on Scotsman's hill, browsing Instagram, or receiving a postcard in Timbuktu.

If you're getting public money for a stadium close to downtown it should not look like crap in front of the skyline.

So you are ok with the pile of rubble on the west side by Stoney Trail that the city paid money for?

[PeteMoss]

From my visit to Detroit pre-pandemic to see a Lions game, when you are walking on the street beside Little Caesars arena you wouldn't even know its arena until you hit a main entrance.

[SebC]

Originally Posted by Beatle17

So you are ok with the pile of rubble on the west side by Stoney Trail that the city paid money for?

I don't think it's good, but it's not ruining any view nor is the price nearly as high.

[Hot_Flatus]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

yes, call it a Corral, or a Barn.

I prefer future reference to the building as either a hockey cauldron or an ice cavity.

[Hot_Flatus]

Originally Posted by Parallex

Strongly disagree. The outside of the building is what people will experience 99.999%+ of the time. I see the Saddledome almost everyday but I'm rarely ever inside of it. The exterior, what it includes & how it interacts with the surrounding streets is going to be be way more relevant and important to significantly more people then the "in-game" experience.

Doesn't this statement sum up the idiocy behind public money funding a private enterprise like this in a nutshell?

Also, these latest renderings are still underwhelming for something so incredibly pricey and supposedly meant to define the cities east village.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Hot_Flatus

Doesn't this statement sum up the idiocy behind public money funding a private enterprise like this in a nutshell?

Also, these latest renderings are still underwhelming for something so incredibly pricey and supposedly meant to define the cities east village.

No, I think the opposite is true. The fact that the exterior design matters to the public, to the overall cityscape, and to civic pride, is exactly why the city should be involved and public money is justifiable.

The Saddledome is/was an iconic part of the city. I hope/expect the new building will be too. Having the city involved (hopefully) aids that process/expectation.

[Purpdust]

This argument has been and will be going on for ever.

Architecture has 2 major philosophies
1) Fit for Purpose design - Mies (Ludwig Mies van der Rohe) is sort of the father of this movement (from what I remember of my university days). In this design philosophy the intended purpose will dictate the shape and design. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_Mies_van_der_Rohe

2) Form over function - with this philosophy the beauty of the building/structure takes precedence of what is happening inside it. Frank Lloyd Wright is a good example.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Lloyd_Wright

Now, most architects will fall within the many shades of gray between the two extremes. With just this rendering, I see elements of the fit for purpose design. When more information is released of the interior design we will know more. I also believe that this ownership group is more concerned about getting a venue that works and provides the revenues they need to complete with other markets. They do not strike me as people concerned with creating a building that will also be a work of art. This is just my opinion.

[Purpdust]

For me the Saddledome is the extreme of Form over function. That places was design to look the way it does while limiting its useful purpose.

[Madman]

Originally Posted by Purpdust

For me the Saddledome is the extreme of Form over function. That places was design to look the way it does while limiting its useful purpose.

But that's the thing, the Saddledome was never designed or built to look like a saddle at all.

The facility was designed by Graham McCourt Architects. While they set out to design a unique building, the idea of a western theme never occurred to Barry Graham or his team.[19] The roof of the building was designed to be a reverse hyperbolic paraboloid, allowing for a pillar free view from all seats and reducing the interior volume by up to one-third when compared to traditional arenas,[20] resulting in reduced heating, lighting and maintenance costs, plus the floating roof can flex to compensate for the city's frequent temperature fluctuations

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotiabank_Saddledome