Site Plan

Highwood Centre

High River, AB

The Highwood Centre by Apaar Homes is located in the Montrose Community, between 12th Street and 3rd Street, in the Town of High River, Alberta, which is rapidly consolidating as a commercial corridor. 

The development includes four commercial buildings with a total of 22 retail units, ranging from three- to six-units per building. One of these buildings includes a second floor daycare facility with an adjacent roof playground— emphasizing Apaar's goal for a community-focused development. The adjacent Highwood Towns is the residential portion of this project and has been designed in concert with this project.

The siting of the commercial buildings follows the east west direction of the site to maximize the amount of sunlight exposure of the buildings and to organize them along an internal main street.  The buildings’ floor elevations were raised to satisfy the flood plain requirements of the town’s Land Use Bylaw. 

The parking lot area is designed as an internal main street with generous sidewalks along the buildings for pedestrian circulation and passive seating. These sidewalks create an active pedestrian environment along the street edges. The pedestrian circulation has been laid out thoughtfully for both the patrons of the Highwood Centre's commercial spaces and for the residents of the adjacent townhomes, making it easy for residents to get to the shops or daycare without having to use their car. A significant central walkway and plaza is key to this connection. This outdoor space will be activated with pergolas, passive seating and trees to encourage an active and vibrant street life suitable for cafes and restaurants. Public art installations will also be placed along the central walkway to establish a local cultural identity for the site.

The commercial buildings were designed to appear as two-storey structures to enhances their street presence and to align with the zoning requirements for the town. The largely tall one storey buildings will be perfect for retail and restaurant uses and are the right density fit for the emerging fabric of the surrounding neighbourhood. 

The architectural language of the Highwood Centre showcases an elegant industrial aesthetic, incorporating materials such as corrugated metal siding, accent wood-tone panels, and brick cladding. These materials create a balanced contrast in the overall design, providing durable, low-maintenance, and high-quality finishes that result in a modern, approachable appearance.

This development will bring vibrancy to the Montrose Community, offering significant commercial, community and public gathering spaces that are accessible both regionally and locally being well-connected to the surrounding road and pedestrian networks.

Gravity has just submitted the Development Permit application for this project

Data

Developer: Apaar Homes
Architecture and Renderings: Gravity Architecture
Civil: Hilco Projects Inc.

Location