GGA Design SCRAPING THE SKY world: Shanghai, Dubai and Calgary. “It’s a significant opportunity to compete at an international level. In the ’70s we were competing with Edmonton,” he jokes. This new, more educated client means design teams like this one. Gibbs cites Centrium as an example of this more sophisticated and more involved client. “Centrium was very focused on design and was pushing the designers, which is always a fun experience for us,” he says. “One of the owners is an architect himself which made the project interesting, challenging and a lot of fun.”
From Left to Right: Marten Rhead, Wade Gibbs, Spencer Cutten, Bao-Nghi Nhan
Wade Gibbs, along with a dedicated group, has spent the better part of the last five years changing Calgary’s skyline. With massive design projects like Livingston Place, Centennial Place, Jamieson Place, Centrium Place and 8th Avenue Place in their portfolio, this team and the others that have worked with them will have a direct impact on the way Calgary will look in the next few years. “What we’re doing is city building,” says Marten Rhead. “It’s been a number of years since the skyline has had any movement and now with the boom, we’re proffering change in the texture and context of downtown. We love this city and we’re invested in its design.”
someone who knows what’s going to last,” he says. “They know what architecture has been and what it can be in the future. The younger members come in with ideas that might be unprecedented – ideas that may evolve into what architecture in Calgary will be and the senior people are there with guidance and support.” Bao-Nghi Nhan, another of the team’s younger members says part of the firm’s philosophy is to develop younger designers for the future. “If a solution I come up with doesn’t work, I learn from that,” she says. “You then see the process of how a better solution comes about so you continue to bring new ideas to the table.”
And it’s a responsibility they take seriously. Gibbs says a city’s core is the face it puts forward to the world.
And new ideas aren’t just coming from young architects – they’re coming from the clients too.
“When you travel, you base your opinion of a city on its downtown,” he says. “You get a feeling – a message of what that city’s about. We’re creating the Calgary skyline – for an architect, it’s a pretty awesome opportunity. This building will be around for the next 50 or 100 or more years and there’s a responsibility that comes with that.”
“The world has gotten a lot smaller,” says Gibbs. “Clients in the ’70s hadn’t travelled; they didn’t know what was out there. Now more have been to cities where innovation and iconic architecture are taking place. The bar has been raised for owners, consultants and architects. We’re now competing with other centres.”
“When you have people with 25 years of experience on your team, you’re getting
Gibbs says the New York Times recently featured the top three emerging cities in the
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Gibbs Gage 25th Anniversary Magazine