The Bow

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by Bigtime

Our tour guide from Matthew's Southwest (the owners of the building) mentioned that the original proposal for The Bow was 70 storeys. Of course this had to be shortened due to it casting a shadow on the bow river pathway, but according to my rough math (and not including extra heights from mechanical and lobby levels) a 70 storey version of the building would have been 284.8 meters or 934' tall.

One could imagine just how awesome that would have been...

I'm still incredibly excited by what an amazing building the Bow is, we will no doubt see it topped for height at some point. The real question is will any new tallest in Calgary top it for design?

so Calgary does have a height limit for buildings? and all because of a pathway? seems kinda silly to me

[BlackArcher101]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

so Calgary does have a height limit for buildings? and all because of a pathway? seems kinda silly to me

I believe it's on the bow river, not the pathway. Has to do with the ecosystem requiring sunlight.

[MacGruber]

Originally Posted by BlackArcher101

I believe it's on the bow river, not the pathway. Has to do with the ecosystem requiring sunlight.

Oh man I bet this pissed off a lot of cowboy oil people.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by fotze

Oh ya there was outrage in the streets, its like you knows us so well.

I think the outrage was that it might cast a shadow on the peace bridge.

[Bigtime]

I believe the rule is that a building can't cast a shadow on the river pathway SOUTH of the Bow river between certain dates. Obviously winter would make this very hard (with the low sun), so I think the end date is something like September 21st.

This isn't a bad thing, there are MANY lots in the CBD that could easily accomodate buildings over 1000' tall. It just so happens that Encana purchased land a little too close, and thus had to have a reduced height to accomodate this rule.

We've debated this many times over on SSP, and generally I think most of us believe it is a good rule to have. Would Prince's Island be as nice if it was in shadow most of the day? And if you made an exception for one building (The Bow) how do you stop from making exceptions after that? A slippery slope.

[JohnnyB]

Definitely a nice looking building.
By far the most modern looking building in the Calgary skyline that I've seen. At the same time, that fact makes me appreciate Shanghai all the more. It's such a great city for architecture with all the skyscrapers. Hard to believe that the new Shanghai Tower really is going to be about three times the height of the bow.

[OldDutch]

Originally Posted by Bigtime

Our tour guide from Matthew's Southwest (the owners of the building) mentioned that the original proposal for The Bow was 70 storeys. Of course this had to be shortened due to it casting a shadow on the bow river pathway, but according to my rough math (and not including extra heights from mechanical and lobby levels) a 70 storey version of the building would have been 284.8 meters or 934' tall.

One could imagine just how awesome that would have been...

I'm still incredibly excited by what an amazing building the Bow is, we will no doubt see it topped for height at some point. The real question is will any new tallest in Calgary top it for design?

Not sure if this has been mentioned but EnCana and Cenovus have already outgrown the Bow. They will be renting a bunch of floors from the Telus tower to put employees in after the move. They will renovate those floors to look like the Bow inside.

70 floors would probably be just enough to fit everyone now.

[JD]

Originally Posted by JohnnyB

Definitely a nice looking building.
By far the most modern looking building in the Calgary skyline that I've seen. At the same time, that fact makes me appreciate Shanghai all the more. It's such a great city for architecture with all the skyscrapers. Hard to believe that the new Shanghai Tower really is going to be about three times the height of the bow.

I get that same feeling of Abu Dhabi... so many projects equal to or bigger than the Bow, but because of the scale of it in a city like Calgary, it's so much more visible and striking. Here, there are buildings way taller than the Bow all over the place but they don't always catch your eye the same way.

I remember driving out to Dubai the first time, eager to see Burj Khalifa. But you need to be almost right underneath it before you actually see it because of the constant haze in the UAE. And even then, I was like, "Really? That's it?" It's tall for sure but its skinny structure just doesn't make it, I dunno, it's just not prominent like I expected.

The Bow is a great addition to Calgary's skyline.

And then the other difference... in Abu Dhabi things never seem to get anywhere. That Souk Central Market tower seems to have been at the same stage of construction since I first came here a year ago. Every time I go home the Bow and the Penny Lane tower both make leaps and bounds.

[JD]

Originally Posted by fotze

Slaves just don't have the work ethic that they used to in the good ole days.

Well, no, what with all the human rights and stuff the government is trying to implement.

Stress on "trying".

[frinkprof]

This comes courtesy of "RicoLance21" on Skyscraperpage Forums. He took one photo nearly every day from the same spot for a few years while The Bow was under construction.

He then put them all in sequence to create a time lapse of the construction of the building. Below is the result, enjoy:



That takes some dedication.

[Bill Bumface]

It was great until he started fellating Bigtime in the credits

[Bigtime]

What can I say? I live up to my online avatar.

This was supposed to get aired with CBC, not too sure what the plan is right now.

[homestand]

Originally Posted by Bigtime

What can I say? I live up to my online avatar.

This was supposed to get aired with CBC, not too sure what the plan is right now.

http://www.cbc.ca/homestretch/episod...lding-video-1/

[Bigtime]

I caught the video and interview with Larry on the CBC news at 5, making all us skyscraper enthusiasts proud!

[GullFoss]

Bow building owners file lawsuit over design problems

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgar...ects-1.3451139

Boom era construction - you get what you get.

[Kavvy]

Originally Posted by GullFoss

Bow building owners file lawsuit over design problems

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgar...ects-1.3451139

Boom era construction - you get what you get.

I don't think it's that... This isn't some condo building a developer wanted to make a quick flip on.

The company says some design issues are typically discovered following the completion of construction, and it's working closely with the companies involved and with tenants on fixing the problems.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by GullFoss

Bow building owners file lawsuit over design problems

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgar...ects-1.3451139

Boom era construction - you get what you get.

I'm no expert in skyscraper construction but I've been a part of enough refinery projects to know that on large scale jobs some things are going to slip through the cracks or equipment that doesn't work as it was sold. I wouldn't call any of these issues major but again it's not my area of expertise.

[Bandwagon In Flames]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

I'm no expert in skyscraper construction but I've been a part of enough refinery projects to know that on large scale jobs some things are going to slip through the cracks or equipment that doesn't work as it was sold. I wouldn't call any of these issues major but again it's not my area of expertise.

Trust me there are major issues with the Bow building. I have a couple friends at Cenovus who say that one side of the building is always super hot while the other side requires a sweater. The open concept was supposed to be very efficient with heating/cooling but has been an absolute nightmare instead.

[GullFoss]

Also ive heard rumors thay some internal windows cant be open cuz it creates a hazardous draft. And that each mens washroom only has one stall, so pooping is an issue. And you thought the dome was bad.

[Bigtime]

I'm going to file a lawsuit against H&R Reit for substantially changing the design of the building once it was sold to them by Encana, and also for failing to develop the South Block.