Indefinite Arts Centre / National accessArts Centre Master Plan

Indefinite Arts Centre Vision and Master Plan Document

February 20, 2018 was a great day for the IAC. 2

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Contents Executive Summary..................................... 6

Part One: The Vision Disability is not a 4-Letter word........ 11 Accountability through Conversation.............................................. 12 Fairview: Established, Unique, Evolving....................................................... 14 Out with the old....................................... 19 Designing for inclusivity........................ 22

Part Five: Beyond the Site Program Elements................................... 69 Part Six: Schedule Looking Forward...................................... 77

Part Two: The Idea Building a tool for difference.............. 26

PANTONE 662C

PANTONE Yellow 012C

PANTONE 185C

PANTONE 802C

PANTONE 389C

“There are no other differences than gradual differences between different grades of difference and no difference (at all).”

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PANTONE Cool Grey 1C

PANTONE 290C

CMYK 8,0,0,0

PANTONE 414C

CMYK 75,68,67,90

Part Three: Building Design Overview..................................................... 33 Ground Floor............................................. 35 Lower Floor................................................ 47 Upper Floor................................................ 53 Part Four: Landscape Design Site Grading............................................... 57 Program Elements................................... 59 North-South Site Section...................... 62 East-West Site Section.......................... 64

- William James, 1999.

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Executive Summary The Indefinite Arts Centre is a community hub driven by the arts, and a new benchmark for inclusive, universally accessible design. Visitors will discover unique spaces within, between and around three buildings which house program ranging from the performing to the visual arts, administrative to retail, and informal to formal galleries.

As an organization, the Indefinite Arts Centre has undergone a transformation; from a disability service organization that engages adults with developmental disabilities, to an arts organization that serves artists living with disabilities. This shift speaks to new era of inclusivity: across the arts, across the disability sector and across communities. The Indefinite Arts Centre supports the creative potential of artists across all spectrums. It is a place where entrepreneurs, innovators, and thought leaders can take away inspiration for their own work, using the perspectives of those whose perspectives are often grossly underrepresented.

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Our team has spoken with all levels of government - community, city, provincial & federal level - to develop broad based awareness of the project. We’ve met with like-minded local organizations to uncover shared constraints and discover collective opportunities. And we’ve spoken with our sister organizations abroad. We’ve visited world-class disArts organizations in the USA including NIAD, Creative Growth, Creativity Explored & the Arc, exchanged stories of our organizations’ evolution, physical spaces and roles in our respective communities.

and a desire for the organization to remain an important neighbor in a revitalized community of Fairview.

In all conversations, we’ve heard one resounding message: we are lucky. Despite the events of February 20 – which marked the sudden collapse of the Fairview Arena roof and temporary loss of IAC’s home the Indefinite Arts Centre is in the envious position of being proactive.

Opportunity’s knocked.

Let’s make the most of it.

Driven by the Indefinite Arts Centre’s 5 year strategic plan, the following vision and master plan was developed through extensive research, thoughtful conversation

Jodi James Intern Architect DIALOG

We have asked “what type of new facility can support and advance Indefinite’s efforts”? We are set to join forces with likeminded allies in Calgary. And we believe this project to be transformational for Fairviewites and Calgarians at large.

The new Indefinite Arts Centre will be a next generation community hub.

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Part One.

The Vision.

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Photo of Willem de Kooning’s Studio.

Customized easels supported de Kooning’s work with large canvases well into his senior years.

Disability is not a 4-letter word.

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Currently 1 in 7 Canadians (5.3 million people) identify as living with a disability.

By 2038, that number will jump to 1 in 5.

16,000 Calgarians acquire a disability annually, with a projected 30% increase in that number over the course of the next 10 years, and 155% increase in 30 years*. (Level Playing Field, 2018). It is clear the disability community touches everyone.

“Disability is an art.

It’s an ingenious way to live.”

Diversity is key to a healthy community; differences in mind and body are a natural and remarkable part of human diversity.

While these differences - physical, sensory, intellectual, or psychological – may cause functional limitations or impairments, these do not necessarily lead to disability.

For certain kinds of bodies and minds, societal structures, political institutions and the built environment can make life meaningful, or conversely, impossible.

Disability arises when society (purposefully or inadvertently) fails to take account of and include all people, regardless of their individual differences.

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Neil Marcus

Upstream Arts. https://www.upstreamarts.org/ resources/disability-is-not-a-four-letter-word/, 2018 1

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1975: Indefinite Art’s first year of classes.

Accountability through conversation.

The Indefinite Arts Centre (IAC) is Canada’s oldest and largest disability arts organization. Founded in 1975, and initially serving a handful of artists, Indefinite Arts recognized the power of the creative voice.

For over 40 years, the IAC has celebrated art as a fundamental means of human expression, and championed that all people are entitled to creative communication.

Art has, and will always continue to be a way to say the unsayable; a vehicle to expansive dialogue and growth. Arguably, a lens that can make the conversation around difference and disability an everyday one.

Art is about community building.

“By making something, others know that you’re creative, that you’re alive, and you have something unique and special going on inside – and non-verbal communication is still communication” David Byrne

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Fairview: Established, Unique, Evolving.

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Fairview is a neighborhood in transition.

Established in the 1950’s, the community of Fairview is experiencing something of a renaissance. Once aged and deteriorated, in recent years the community has witnessed a regeneration of the arena, the renovation of the community hall, and a revival of their community association (fairviewcommunity. ca, 2018).

Young families have moved in, and neighbors who left years ago have moved back. The schools are full, and the parks busy with little league baseball and soccer.

Local schools support a strong connection to the arts; collectively, Le Roi Daniels Elementary and Fairview Junior High Schools offer visual arts, dance, drama, and music programming to 1,300 students, ranging in age from 5-15. (Calgary Board of Education, 2018).

Baby boomers and founding community members make up a vibrant pre-seniors and seniors network. Mature residents are more highly involved in recreation and leisure

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pursuits compared to previous generations.

In particular, seniors are seeking out both physical and mental activity to ensure that they maintain a quality of life that is sustainable for longer than has been observed in previous generations (Recreation Amenities Gap Analysis – Area 5 Summary Report, 2010).

There is momentum to “continue the regeneration of parks and playgrounds, to build and expand our events and programs, develop strong ties to business and community groups and serve our greater community” (fairviewcommunity.ca, 2018).

Residents have spoken to a desire for more public art, additional trees, community gardens, variety in park infrastructure, seniors amenities and investment in the central park (Community Objectives Workshop, 2017).

Fairview aspires to be a complete community with a focus on quality of life, improved public spaces, and communityled events. Arts facilities, presentations and creation experiences are envisioned

as core future development, a defining feature of the area, and a regular part of life in Fairview (Reclaiming Calgary’s Cultural Identify: Arts Spaces Strategy and Capital Plan, Calgary Arts Development, 2007).

Fairview is diverse, resilient and growing.

Aging community infrastructure requires lifecycle upgrades and/or additional amenities in order to address projected long-term population expansion. Its public spaces and community buildings must be re-imagined to serve residents both now and well into the future (Recreation Amenities Gap Analysis – Area 5 Summary Report, 2010).

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Fairview Community Association. http://fairviewcommunity.ca/, 2018

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FAIRVI EW

EAST FAIRVI EW INDUS TRIAL

Out with the old.

Aspirations for the Fairview Community Hall site have always been rooted in community.

The modest concrete block building, attached to the Fairview Arena, is where the ‘88 Olympics were commemorated, milestones celebrated and where people of all ‘ages stages and wages’ have historically come together.

FAIRMOUNT DRIVE SE

IEW I RV FA IA AD AC

HERITAGE DRIVE

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who can use stairs, and those who cannot.

Natural light is in short supply. The gallery is hidden away. The building does not serve the artists and the community in a meaningful way. The existing building has been adjusted to make do. The community deserves better.

In 2007, the IAC took on the responsibility of investing in maintaining the hall, continuing the legacy set by the Fairview Community Association. Small-scale renovations ensured the building met baseline building code standards for accessibility. From offering an array of after school programming, to hosting art shows and exhibitions, to creating a bright and recognizable beacon on the corner of Fairmount and Fredson, Indefinite Arts Centre has brought art to the community, and the community to the art.

But the limitations of the existing building constrained much of this activity to the interior. The parking lot isolates the building from the street. The entry divides those

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1988 Olympic Celebrations in Fairview.

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Designing for Inclusivity.

The way in which we each engage the world is unique.

“Universal Design is the process of embedding choice for all people in the things human beings design” (Centre for Universal Design, North Carolina State University College of Design).

From seniors to strollers, white canes to crutches, delivery carts to service animals, reducing barriers in the built environment ensures that everyone’s independence can be maintained. Yet current building codes and accessibility standards only address a small fraction of difference. Hearing loss, power chairs, hypersensitivity and service animals are just a few impairments that remain unacknowledged in contemporary standards. A truly accessible environment is considers how all people navigate the world through sight, touch, scent, sounds and taste.

Yet we cannot understand the world outside of our own mind and body. Empathy is informed by our own experiences; we as

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such, cannot comprehensively anticipate how all minds and bodies will experience space.

So how can we account for others in the same way we account for our own selves?

How do you create a place for every body, every mind?

“No amount of smiling at a flight of stairs has ever turned it into a ramp.”

Stella Young

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Part Two.

The Idea.

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Building a tool for difference.

PANTONE 662C

We account for difference by creating difference. We replace prescriptive engagement and discrete spaces and focus on the spaces in-between. We introduce an architecture that focuses on gradients of sensory, programmatic and spatial conditions, that vary in their intensity across the project.

PANTONE Yellow 012C

PANTONE 185C

PANTONE 802C

PANTONE 389C

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PANTONE Cool Grey 1C

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PANTONE 414C

There is no one way to engage the space.

Each visitor is empowered to define their own experience.

No one space is exactly like another.

Through subtle transformations, an environment of gradients is created both inside and in between buildings. In any given space, visitors are concurrently becoming and unbecoming one condition or quality.

Visitors are free to draw closer to or away from certain moments – empowered to create their own experience based on their own predispositions. Subtle differences are leveraged to offer infinite choice. A space where everyone can find a place to be comfortable, to be creative, and to contribute as they see fit.

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CMYK 75,68,67,90

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View from Fairmount Drive SE

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Part Three.

Building Design.

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Overview.

The Indefinite Arts Centre is community hub driven by the arts, and a new benchmark for inclusive, universally accessible design.

Three buildings anchor the project. Each undergoes a simple transformation (twist, tilt and stretch) to create a series of different environments within themselves, between themselves, and with the landscape. There is no front or back to the site; each building opens up in multiple ways. The buildings house performing, visual and culinary arts, community amenities, offices for non-profits, retail and event spaces.

The existing community hall is not erased within the new design. Loaded with history, stories, and a sense of place, the hall is absorbed in the new architecture: repurposed as a canvas for display, a vessel for the social spaces and a foundation for administrative areas. Preservation of the existing hall continues the Indefinite Arts programming during construction: a lynch pin in a multi-phased construction strategy.

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Throughout the campus, the ground plane and floor plates remain consistently horizontal – minimizing obstructions and reducing vertical circulation across the site.

Outdoor spaces are as important as indoor.

Public realm and private amenities are indistinguishable. Spaces oscillate between open to closed, tall to compact, and wide to narrow. Materials mediate sound, texture, vibration, humidity, temperature, scent. The site is animated day and night, winter and summer.

The ground plane remains consistent – a near perfect horizontal grade throughout. Walls and roofs rotate to introduce new qualities of space with the existing building, between new buildings, and between new building and landscape.

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STAIR #3 DN

OUTDOOR STAGE

ELEVATOR

MULTI-USE REHERSAL/ PERFORMANCE SPACE KILN ROOM

Ground Floor.

COATS W/C

ART STUDIO OPEN SPACE

W/C

SOUND/LIGHT/ RECORDING BOOTH

UP

Visual Arts Building

STAIR #2

QUIET STUDIO A

QUIET STUDIO B

GALLERY A

Visible and accessible from Fairmount Drive, the ground floor offers access to the most public of programming on the site. Dining, retail, performance and gallery spaces in all three buildings are accessible from this level.

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DINING/LECTURE/ LOCKER SPACE

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A new entrance brings visitors directly into the existing hall. Visitors are greeted by a reception area immediately across from the entry vestibule. A new, oversized elevator is front-and-centre; a generous open-air platform transports people and materials between the three floors of the Visual Arts Building. The elevator sits within an opening in the floor plate which previously linked the Optimist Gallery to the lobby space above.

A large lunch room, equipped with an artists’ kitchen, is just beyond the elevator.

Here lunchtime lectures are hosted by Indefinite’s artists for their colleagues.

Lockers provide all participants with a safe a secure place to store their belongings for the day.

FREIGHT/ FEATURE ELEVATOR

OPEN TO BELOW

GALLERY

RECEPTION

W/C CURATOR

ELEV.

KITCHEN

DISH ROOM

DRY STORAGE

STORAGE

ARTIST-INRESIDENCE STUDIO

UP

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RETAIL

READING ROOM

GALLERY B STAIR #1

FINISHING KITCHEN

W/C

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CAFE

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As the largest building on the site, all Indefinite Arts Centre programming is housed within the Visual Arts Building. This building is constructed around the existing Fairview Community Hall. The ground floor is connected by continuous circulation outboard of the existing hall. Within the hall, all non-structural interior walls have been removed to reveal large continuous social spaces.

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The studio space is accessed by a lightfilled corridor to the west of the lunch room.

Exterior walls of the existing hall are now interior gallery walls adorned with workin-progress pieces by Indefinite’s artists. A double height studio space opens up to the north of the hall. A huge picture window provides expansive views to the landscape north of the site. Every space within the studio has access to this view. Indirect natural light is captured and directed into the space through light scoops lining the roof.

An exterior door in the northwest corner connects the studio space to a protected exterior terrace. Creative sessions can easily flow outdoors in the spring, summer and fall.

Work stations are set up to accommodate different media types: from painting to drawing, textiles to ceramics. A small kiln room sits in the NE corner of the studio.

Mobile partitions store small scale materials.

Large canvases are supported by in-floor easels, which retract and expand to set the canvas height appropriate to the

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artist. Artist pin-up space, inboard of the structural columns, is available throughout.

Immediately above the studio space is a large volume housing second floor IAC administration. Beneath this volume, a lower ceiling height offers a protected space for making. The lower ceiling has the benefit of acoustic dampening, and suspends a rigging system for cords, lighting and other elements.

The south end of the existing hall hosts a commercial kitchen. Food is prepared in the kitchen as part of catering services for events hosted throughout the site. This is also where cafĂŠ provisions are prepared.

The existing small service elevator is used for BOH circulation.

A second gallery hall, immediately south of reception, is fully visible from the adjacent outdoor patio.

Two quiet studio rooms are nested within the north end of the existing hall, immediately south of the open studio space. Operable doors allow these spaces to be closed off from the rest of the studio, creating quiet working environments for individual artists or small groups.

Gender neutral washrooms line the west corridor. A long ramp links the studio space to the lower level entry. Above the south end of the ramp is a dedicated artist-in-residence studio. An intimate, casual reading room adjacent to the artistresidence space supports conversations between artists.

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Entry into Visual Arts Buidling

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Open Studio Space

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Black Box Theatre The black box theatre supports all performing arts programming on the site.

The tilted cube rises on the SE corner to mark the entry to the building. A corridor brings visitors into a large, flexible open space for rehearsals and performances.

Support spaces (such as washrooms, coat rooms, and sound booths) are nested to the rear of the theatre. Above the space sits a rigging grid for lighting, sound and other suspended equipment.

To the north, an oversized portal opens up to a covered outdoor stage. Performances can be arranged to suit indoor or outdoor audiences. A large freight elevator allows for props, equipment and people to move between floors of the theatre.

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Black Box Theatre

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Gallery, Cafe & Retail Building Three complementary programs are housed within one large, open air volume. Two wedges of space are defined by a solid program block in the centre. The gallery sits to the north, the cafĂŠ to the south, and all support elements (washrooms, storage, compact retail and a finishing kitchen) are contained within the block.

All program elements can retract into the program block, creating a highly flexible rental venue for events. The walls of the building open seasonally to support free flow of people in and out of the building, creating a permeable retail storefront and framing views into the gallery space.

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UP

ELEVATOR

MULTI-USE REHERSAL SPACE LARGE FORMAT PRINT ROOM DRESSING ROOM A

DRESSING ROOM B DRESSING ROOM C

Lower Floor.

DIGITAL MEDIA & MUSIC LAB DRESSING ROOM D

STORAGE

Visual Arts Building

ARCHIVE/STORAGE/ GALLERY PREPARTION

The lower floor of the project connects the Visual Arts Building to the Black Box Theatre. Additional creative spaces, a dedicated community room and all backof-house functions are located on the lower level of the project.

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MECHANICAL ROOM

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OPEN TO ABOVE

Similar to the ground level, primary circulation is nested between the new building envelope and the existing community hall.

STORAGE

MATERIALS STORAGE LOCKERS

FREIGHT/ FEATURE ELEVATOR

W/C

COMMUNITY ROOM

JAN

Outboard of the hall, the east ramp allows visitors to travel from the lower level directly into the main studio space.

Continuing along the east corridor, visitors enter the digital media and music lab; a state-of-the-art technology studio fully equipped with workstations, a green wall and large-scale printers. Visual connection to and from the landscape is provided by a picture window which spans the north edge of the building.

ELEV.

RECEPTION UP

STAIR #1 GARBAGE & RECYCLING

LOADING & DELIVERY

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Visitors access this floor through a dedicated entry on the SE corner of the building. The vestibule opens into a large three storey volume, linking all three levels of the building. To the west, an opening into the existing hall leads to the new freight elevator, with controlled access to the levels above. On this level, the existing hall houses dedicated space for Fairview Community Association (including two gender neutral washrooms).

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Black Box Theatre Immediately adjacent to the lab is the compact storage room – an archival quality space which places the art of curation and maintenance on display to visitors.

The west wall offers direct below grade access to the black box theatre, as well as dedicated back-of-house materials storage and circulation. Refuge, recycling and loading zones are located along the south end of the building.

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The lower level of the black box theatre provides additional rehearsal space for the performing arts. Additional support spaces, such as dressing rooms and storage, can also be found on this level. Both stairs and a freight elevator link to the ground floor.

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Digital Media and Music Lab

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Upper Floor.

PRIVATE OFFICE A

PRINTER

OPEN TO BELOW

PRIVATE OFFICE B

OPEN TO BELOW

OPEN WORKSTATION AREA

STAIR #2

PRIVATE OFFICE C

Visual Arts Building DN

All administrative programming is housed on the upper floor of the Visual Arts Building. This storey sits atop the existing hall, connected to the levels below by the new freight elevator. Flexible open office space hall is available to rent by non-profit organizations. North of the rentable area, a large conference room accommodates up to 12 people. An additional formal board room (seating up to 25) can be reconfigured as a training classroom.

Gender neutral washrooms, a staff kitchen and open seating area complete this area.

STAFF KITCHEN OPEN TO BELOW

BOARD ROOM/ TRAINING ROOM W/C

W/C

LARGE CONFERENCE ROOM

W/C

FREIGHT/ FEATURE ELEVATOR

SEATING AREA

OPEN TO BELOW

North of the existing hall, additional floor space is suspended above the ground floor studio space. This zone is dedicated to Indefinite Arts administrative office space, and includes three private offices. A stair connects IAC administration space directly to the studio. Translucent walls and railings mediate a visual and audio connection to the creative space below.

RENTABLE OPEN OFFICE AREA

OPEN TO BELOW

DN

OPEN TO BELOW

OPEN TO BELOW STAIR #1

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0m

In all areas on the upper floor, natural light is provided by light scoops in the roof structure. Much of the floor plate is open to spaces below.

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Part Four.

Landscape Design.

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Site Grading.

In an effort to minimize obstructions to maximize accessibility, the ground plane is kept as consistent as possible; however, elevation points across the perimeter of the existing site vary considerably (highest in the NW, lowest in the SE). The proposed grading meets existing elevation points along the perimeter, sets a new ground level elevation, removes the requirement for stairs, and selectively introduces accessible ramps.

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This is achieved through three grade changes. The eastern edge of the proposed landscape rises upward, to meet the elevation of the existing hall’s main floor.

The resultant 3% grade ensures a fully accessible surface linking Fairmount Drive to the entry of the Visual Arts Building and Black Box Theatre. Along the length of the café/gallery, a 1:20 ramp brings visitors up from lower elevation of the adjacent south sidewalk. Finally, the eastern edge of the Visual Arts Building aligns with the elevation of the existing hall’s lower level Where non-planar slopes meet, softscaping mediates the edge conditions.

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Grading Diagram

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Fairview Junior High School

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Program Elements.

02 03

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The Collage

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01 02 03 04

Urban Forest Community Gardens Flexible Open Space Amphitheatre (The Hill)

05 06 07 08 09

Outdoor Studio Terrace Passenger Loading Zone Bench Seating Sculpture Garden Outdoor Art Vitrine

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Operable Wall/ Seasonal Entry Dining Patio

12 Materials Loading Zone 13 Secondary Passenger Loading 14 Staff Parking

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Building Entry

10 11 12 Fairmount Drive SE

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Resulting from the spaces in between the buildings, the design of the landscape is an extension of the vision for the project at large. Gradients from open to closed, hard to soft, large to small, ordered to random, and public to private expand a variety of program types into the landscape.

The landscape plan can be understood as a series of gathering spaces at different scales (for one, for a few or for many) which support the IAC’s pillars of creation, exhibition, training and sharing. Vegetation, surface materials, and vertical elements create a variety of sensory experiences across the site. Shifting combinations of scale and sense, in conjunction with a relationship to the adjacent programming within the buildings, generates character spaces that differ throughout the project site. Nature is blended with art, and the site is opened up for community use.

The centre of the site is processional space that marks arrival, offers quiet spaces to wait, and carves out area for groups to gather. As the largest scale outdoor space within the confines of the site, The Collage is where program between all three buildings spill out and mix together - it’s sculpture garden meets-event space-meets lobby zone. Here visitors simultaneously interact with all three buildings.

Benches offer places to sit, while landscaped beds create a tapestry that shifts seasonally. Large scale art sculptures can be discovered throughout. A glass vitrine provides protected space for the display of more environmentally sensitive works. The space is highly visible from Fairmount Drive, and the perfect location to host Indefinite’s community and holiday art fairs.

Studio Terrace Nested between the Black Box Theatre and the Visual Arts Building, the Studio Terrace directly connects to the studio space and

Fredson Drive SE

Site Plan

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overlooks the landscape to the north. Artists can take cover in this protected exterior space to extend their craft outdoors.

Fairmount Drive and Fredson Drive are lined with accessible parallel parking stalls. Staff parking is located to the east of the Visual Arts Building.

Patio Deliveries, Garbage and Recycling Located between the Visual Arts Building and the cafĂŠ is The Patio: a sunny, southfacing space with fixed outdoor tables and chairs that provides visitors the option of enjoying their meals outdoors. The Patio looks directly into an adjacent gallery space to the east, and out onto the street to the south.

Passenger Pick-up and Drop-Off

Deliveries are received at the south end of the site. A large overhead door links the receiving area with back-of-house circulation and storage in the lower level of the Visual Arts Building. Garbage and recycling is located here, concealed by vegetation and a natural grade change along the street edge. This zone is adjacent to the neighborhood alleyway south of the site.

Passenger drop-off and pick-up, including services provided by Access Calgary, is celebrated by being moved to the front of the site. For days when weather is inclement, the SE entry can also be used

by Access Calgary to drop-off passengers immediately next to the building.

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Sidewalk Green Infrastructure

Vehicular Zone

Accessible Parallel Street Parking

Sidewalk + Access Aisle

Green Infrastructure GALLERY

Fairview Junior High School

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The Hill

Indefinite Arts Centre

North-South Site Section

Fredson Drive SE (Residential Street)

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Fairmount Drive SE (Collector Street)

64 Indefinite Arts Centre Woonerf

East-West Site Section Future Integrated Civic Facility Ball Diamond Fulham Street SE

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Green Infrastructure

Sidewalk

Accessible Parallel Parking + Passenger Loading Zone

Northbound Bike Lane

Vehicular Zone

Southbound Bike Lane

Sidewalk

Green Infrastructure

Part Five.

Beyond the Site.

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Program Elements.

Although the building footprints are constrained within a distinct area of operation, a cohesive master plan for the project speaks to an integration with neighbors on all sides of the site.

Connections to the north and east, as well as improvements to the adjacent streetscape extends the vision into the Fairview community at large.

The streetscape edge is blurred by a new urban forest, visually enhancing the road while offering a sound and wind buffer to the fields beyond. Between the trees, meandering paths lead to pockets of community gardens; a range of shaded and sunny beds where vegetables and plants can be grown by residents and students.

Integrated benches create spaces to meet, chat, or read a book.

North Fields Much of the open park spaces to the north of the project site is well used: grass fields support soccer, football and other organized sports. That said, the area immediately north of the Indefinite site, nested between Fairview Junior High and the Indefinite parking lot, is not.

The design reclaims this space as an outdoor amenity geared towards performance, education and athletics – outdoor infrastructure that both schools and the community at large does not currently have.

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‘Untitled’, Collaborative Work

As visitors move into the site, the paths merge into larger hard surfaced areas where community dance lessons and seniors yoga classes are held. These spaces double as assembly space for large audiences gathered to enjoy a late night movie or take in a performance on the black box outdoor stage. An outdoor firepit extends the use of this space both into evening and into the colder months.

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Beyond the theatre, a new hill is rises four meters into the air. Its west face, a more gradual slope, creates landscaped amphitheatre seating for outdoor shows. At its top, visitors can see deep into Indefinite Art’s studio space. The east face creates spectator seating for the existing sports fields. In the winter, children toboggan while parents warm themselves alongside a community fire pit in front of the theatre.

Woonerf The arena site, immediately east of the Indefinite Arts Centre, is slated for redevelopment; however, the scope and timing of this work is unknown. Regardless of the program and scale of the future development, the space in between the IAC and the east site must be considered in order to ensure an integrated public realm for Fairview.

A woonerf is envisioned as a link between the two developments. As a social street, one which privileges pedestrians over vehicles, visitors are provided a liveable

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and attractive shared entry that could host a variety of activities for both facilities.

Vehicular access to the north of the site – a suitable location for large-scale surface parking – is preserved while new features such as furniture, planters, street trees, and benches limit vehicular speed, improve safety, and promote greater use of the circulation space.

The woornerf is a public amenity that could be built now, bridging between the IAC and an anticipated future integrated civic facility.

Streetscape The existing streetscape design of Fairmount Drive and Fredson Drive falls short of the character of the neighborhood.

Narrow sidewalks, lack of street parking and no bike lanes contribute to higher speed of vehicular traffic and reduced safety for pedestrians and cyclists.

a new streetscape befitting the caliber and character of this significant linkage.

Fairmount Drive is envisioned as a collector street: generous sidewalks, dedicated bike lanes and accessible on-street parking are framed by new street trees which line the boulevards.

Pedestrian crossings are made more visible with ladder-style crosswalks. Curb extensions significantly improve pedestrian crossings by reducing the pedestrian crossing distances, visually and physically narrowing the roadway, improving the ability of pedestrians and motorists to see each other, and reducing the time that pedestrians are in the street. New curb ramps are located at the end of each crosswalk.

Fredson Drive, as a residential street, incorporates accessible on-street parking and new street trees as green infrastructure.

The curb cut for the woonerf is shifted east, further away from Fairmount Drive.

New turning radii, and a more generous pedestrian realm at the corner of Fairmount and Fredson reflect the updated street profiles and provide a high degree of visibility for drivers.

The proposed streetscape design is vibrant, safe, accessible and in line with best practices for urban design

The transit stop is relocated south of the intersection, creating the space for a visible loading and drop-off zone directly in front of the site, that does not impede on the sidewalk.

Informed by The City of Calgary’s Complete Streets Guideline, the new design proposes

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View from North of Project Site

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Part Six.

Schedule.

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Looking Forward.

2018 2019 2020

Vision and plan launched.

Confirmation of public support.

Break ground on construction.

1974 Groundbreaking Ceremony for the Fairview Community Hall.

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“My imagination is so many things” Jane Cameron, ‘Seabird’

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Momo Mixed Ability Dance Theatre Photo: Citrus Photography

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