CALGARY, AB
Calgary Event Centre
The Event Centre is a crucial component in Calgary’s transformative works in East Victoria Park and is the third major community-building project ongoing in the Rivers District.
The Event Centre will be a multi-purpose, state-of-the-art facility with up to 19,000 seats.
It will host concerts, assemblies, festivals, and professional and amateur sporting events. The centre will be home to the NHL’s Calgary Flames, the WHL’s Calgary Hitmen, and the NLL’s Calgary Roughnecks.
The team is working closely to evaluate the detailed transportation and pedestrian movement and model for all modes of public transportation, bicycling, vehicular, pedestrian, and materials movement, including loading operations, within the Event Centre site and related to the Event Centre within the Rivers District Master Plan.
The modelling and simulations encompass the interior facility, exterior facility, and surrounding public realm, with consideration of loading and parking areas above and/or below grade.
Drawing on our extensive experience designing iconic sports and recreation centres, Entuitive was well positioned to ensure CMLC and CSERELP were provided with a landmark building fitting of their world class sports franchises while meeting very aggressive scheduling.
Entuitive, partnered with Bunt, are working on the Transportation Movement & Pedestrian Modelling contract. The scope includes public transportation, vehicular, and pedestrian movement consulting services, as well as emergency evacuation modelling. Our team is also serving as Structural Engineering Consultant under a separate contract.
PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS
CLIENT
Calgary Sports Entertainment Real Estate Limited Partnership (CSERELP);
Calgary Municipal Land Corporation (CMLC)
ARCHITECT
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OUR ROLE(S)
Structural Engineering Consultant;
Transportation & Pedestrian Modelling Analysis
SIZE
23,500 m² (250,000 ft²)
BUDGET
$400 M
MARKET (OFFICE)
CALGARY
KEY CONSIDERATIONS
Challenge One
A major challenge with the Event Centre was ensuring the concourses had adequate space to create the desired fan experience, particularly between periods when a large percentage of the occupants visit the concourse for a washroom, concession, or stretch break. This had to be balanced with the economic considerations that come with sizing all aspects of the Event Centre.
Solution One
Entuitive and Bunt’s interior pedestrian modelling allowed key project stakeholders to visualize the usage of the concourses during both regular-season and post-season scenarios to make informed decisions related to concourse sizing, fan experience, and revenue generation over the life of the asset.
Challenge Two
An aggressive schedule combined with multiple stakeholders who each had unique visions for their aspect of the project meant rapid optioneering was required.
Solution Two
Entuitive was able to quickly develop a range of structural schemes drawing on experience from similar long-span structures and sports and recreation facilities to create a range of realistic, cost-effective options for consideration by the design team and project stakeholders.
BIM allowed each of these options to be visualized to assist in decision making, allowing for significant and efficient coordination between mechanical, structural, and architectural, and allowing for quantities to be quickly estimated to further inform decision making.