CALGARY- After more than three decades in the northeast, Global Calgary will be moving downtown as part of a major redevelopment of Shaw Communications headquarters.
The plan, unveiled Wednesday by company CEO Brad Shaw, will result in dramatic changes to the Calgary skyline. The project is being enthusiastically supported by Calgary’s mayor, who is hailing its importance to the downtown core.
“Shaw’s commitment to rebuilding and expanding its corporate headquarters downtown will be a lasting contribution to a vibrant city centre,” said Mayor Naheed Nenshi.
Shaw’s headquarters on 6 Street and 3 Avenue S.W. will be completely renovated and restored following a July 2012 electrical fire that prompted the company to temporarily relocate close to 900 employees.
Brad Shaw says the redesigned building will be good for Calgary and the company’s employees.
“The development supports the urbanization of downtown Calgary and reflects Shaw’s position as a corporate and community leader,” said Shaw. “Shaw’s corporate headquarters will form a new anchor of development in Calgary’s downtown, while setting a new benchmark for innovation in workplace and office design.”
Get daily National news
As part of the redevelopment, the company will become the sole commercial tenant of the 3 Eau Claire project across the street. The new Shaw-branded office and residential project breaks ground in April. It will dominate the west end of Calgary’s downtown with twin 48-storey towers. Shaw is leasing all 12 floors of commercial space in the building and secured naming rights.
In total, Shaw’s corporate headquarters will occupy approximately 540-thousand square feet of office space.
The redesigned Shaw Court building will include a Shaw retail location and the new Global Calgary facility will occupy a prominent street front area for its studios.
“We are excited about bringing Global to the city centre and the possibilities it opens up by bringing us a street-level presence in the heart of Calgary,” Brad Shaw said. “In particular, being downtown is a significant advantage for the ability of Global News to deliver breaking news and information that Calgarians want and need.”
“The nice thing about it is that we can open the doors to the street,” said Julie Shaw, VP, Facilities, Design & Management. “It really brings us right back to the community.”
Tours of leading-edge facilities such as Google, Pixar, and Twitter provided inspiration for the building design which features collaborative workspaces, rooftop terraces, fitness and health centres for employees, and sustainable building concepts.
Up to 2,000 employees will be working out of both buildings when the project is finished in 2016.
Comments
Want to discuss? Please read our Commenting Policy first.