21.5 more Apartments, and 0.5 Offices

The Elmhurst and Riverview Towers


The Mayflower and Park Place


Illuminada I & II


The Wimbledon, B&H Tower and Shaughnessy House


Hudson House, The Hargate and Prominence Place


Hyde Park, The Berkeley and The Albany


Centurion Towers and Oak Tower


Oliver Place, Oakwood Towers and the Mountbatten


Park Plaza, Oxbridge Place & The Carlton

In this batch of models the 0.5 of an office and an apartment is Park Plaza, which has 6 floors of residential above 10 floors of office. As far as I know, it is the only building of that type in Edmonton. (It also shouldn't be confused with Park Square, Park Place, Park Tower, Parkside Tower, or Central Park).

Also in this group is the Wimbledon, which I would have to say is by far the most phallic building in Edmonton especially when viewed from Jasper Avenue. Something like that doesn't just happen by accident, does it?

Beyond that, these models are mostly interesting because they largely "complete" the skyline of Oliver. There are still a few office buildings to do around 112 Street, and a few more apartments that I just happened to miss when I was taking photos, but this is basically it.

Seniors Association of Greater Edmonton

Model and Building information

In the real world, the SAGE building is marred by the ugliest and most unflattering awnings imaginable:



It's also located on 102A avenue which is one of downtown Edmonton's dumpiest and most redundant streets. It is closed during the summer months, and the architecture of City Hall and Churchill Square all but begs you to ignore it. To add to the gritty ambiance there are not one - not two - but three separate pedways, along with the City Centre East loading dock:



I really like the building, though. It's just nice, simple mid-century commercial, with windows that are deceptively huge. It doesn't have great street interaction, but in a perfect world the windows on the main floor would be replaced with ones that are operable, so that the cafe could open up onto the street when the weather is nice.

The flags are once again artistic license. I realize that flying a flag does take some effort and maintenance, but I really wish more downtown buildings would make use of their flagpoles.

Government House

Model and Building information

Sometimes the process of creating a model helps me to better appreciate a building. Other times, it has the opposite effect.

Government House is definitely a nice building, and the sandstone is a gorgeous material just like it is on the Legislature. But sixteen columns? Is that necessary? Two wouldn't have been enough? And are all those different types and sizes of windows really required? Not just the ones that are two panes wide, or the ones that are three panes wide, but also those two at the back that are four panes wide and a totally different shape (and which I skipped).

The model turned out really well, but it was a bit annoying to make.

Brownlee Building and IBM Building

Model and Building information

The Brownlee building is just a really, really fat building. And although I normally like pilotis, the huge wings of this building and their closeness to the ground are just so heavy. The roundness, and the tiering, and the strange stepped detail on the front all contribute to making it feel like the whole building is being yanked down by gravity, with only the columns holding it up. That might have been the intention, but I'm not a fan. The actual pattern of the glazing and spandrels is quite attractive and interesting though.

I've heard that the architect of the Brownlee building was the same one who designed the IBM building at 44 Capital Boulevard. My Brownlee Building model is much, much better than my earlier model of the IBM building:


Model and Building information

Bowker Building

Model and Building information

The last of the Beaux Arts buildings built in Edmonton, given new life by a renovation and addition in the 1970's.

This is another building that most people experience by driving by. And the east side faces a no-man's-land of parking lots. With the renovations of the Federal building and its grounds that are underway, the Bowker will hopefully find new prominence as well.

This model was kicking around on my computer for a long time too. I originally started it after I finished the Legislature building in April of 2007. After a few quick attempts I gave up, and didn't return to it until April of 2009. That's probably for the best, because my skill with fiddly historical models has greatly improved over the years.

Law Courts

Model and Building information

The wacky side of Modernism. Form follows function, so lets build an upside-down ziggurat-thing. (I'm sure that the volumes do transparently express the various uses, I just don't understand it).

I quite like the building though, in spite of its absolutely abysmal relation to its surroundings. The plazas to the west and south are nice enough, but wow are the 104ave and 97st sides stark. It's making a statement and I can get behind that, but sometimes I wish the statement it was making wasn't so rude.

This model took me a long, long time. Looking at the files, it was created in June of 2007. I made a few attempts, and then gave up. I came back to it in September 2008, and gave up again. It was finally completed in April 2009.

Westmount Junior High School

Model and Building information

Westmount school certainly has opera in it.

Built in the middle nowhere, and in an area that would remain as the middle of nowhere for decades, I can't imagine the statement that it originally made on the geography, and on the children who trekked to it everyday. Now it's something that gets driven by without much notice.

The less said about the modernist addition the better. Obviously that was a thankless job, because there's no point in even trying to compete with the original school. But the solution involes one section that has 270 lineal feet of continuous precast concrete. How was that a good idea?

Court House (1912-1972)

Model and Building information

Demolished before I was born, I've long heard stories of the old Court House. Much as I appreciate Modernism, I do have to wonder how architects and planners of the day could have been so dedicated to erasing the past and replacing it with their shiny concrete modernity. How many buildings were lost because they didn't have air-conditioning, and how ridiculous is that?

On the other hand, I guess that one Beaux Arts building is kindof the same as all the rest. This frankenmodel was thrown together with bits of the Bowker Building and downtown CIBC, and is as accurate as I could make it.

The Prince of Wales Armouries

Model and Building information

In spite of the large sign above the main entrance that proclaims "1913," construction on the armoury wasn't started until 1914, and the building was not completed until 1915. 94 years later, and two of its neighbours are empty fields - Edmonton is so strange sometimes.

It's still an impressive building though, with the loopholes and turrents appealing to the kid in me. It has similar cousins spread throughout western Canada, and I've always found something comforting about being in a strange city, and stumbling upon the armoury which is both familiar and yet not.

The Federal Building

Building Information:

9820-107th Street NW
10 stories, 36m/120', 17,000 to 22,000 sqft floorplates, 256,000sqft total.

The Federal Building was designed by Edmonton architect George Heath MacDonald in 1939, however it was not built until the late 1950's following World War II. In 1988 the Federal government moved its offices to Canada Place, and the Federal Building has been vacant ever since.

(Source: Real Estate Weekly)

Model Commentary:

I love the Federal Building. It's possibly my favorite building in Edmonton.

My mother worked there when I was young, and so I have a mish-mash of fond half-memories of visiting her there, and of being awed by all the tiny little people and cars ten stories below.

The Federal Building is also something of an underdog because it has been abandoned since 1988. There have been several proposals to revive it over the last two decades, but they have all fallen through. You have to keep hoping though, that one day the right one will come along, and that the building will be revived as something amazing.

Honestly though, the main reason that I love the Federal Building is this:



Is there anything that conveys the concept of blandness better than the three words "Canadian Federal Government?" And yet once upon a time the Federal Government had a building with lightning bolt door handles.

That. Is. Awesome.

The Federal Building is great because it is art deco, and because Edmonton has very few art deco buildings. I can think of only six others - two hospitals, two schools and two theatres. I'm not sure why there are so few, but it is probably because when art deco was at its peak the prairies were at a low point.

As for the model itself, when I made it I still didn't know what I was doing, but I do think that it turned out well. If I were building it today I would do many things differently, but I'm in no rush to "fix" it.