Development Permit Approved for University District Townhomes!

We are thrilled to share that the Development Permit for Crystal Creek's University Townhomes has been approved! This 40-unit townhouse project in Calgary's University District specifically addresses aging in place with comfort and convenience. Unique features of these homes include an elevator in each unit that travels to every floor, including a roof top patio!

Parks surround the site allowing residents to feel connected to the outdoors. They also offers direct access to the city's regional pathways.

Stay tuned on more updates for this exciting project, and click below to read more!

Development Permit Released for OPUS'S The Nines!

The Development Permit for "The Nines" by OPUS is now released!

This exciting new mixed-use project is located at the intersection of Elbow Drive and Southland Drive, bordering Calgary's Southwood and Haysboro communities. The development will feature 13,500 square feet dedicated to a variety of commercial spaces, including a fitness centre. Above, 85 apartments with views of the city and mountains will offer one-, two-, and three-bedroom configurations.

Casual observers may think that architectural design is mainly massing and facade treatments. However, one of the significant design challenges Gravity solved with this project was providing barrier-free access from both Elbow Drive and Southland Drive given the slopes of both street and the site itself, and limits to the depth the parking garage could be sunk. By sloping the vehicle access down from the lane along the west side of the building before starting the underground ramp we were able to keep the garage shallow and the doors at street level.

We are thrilled to collaborate with OPUS to transform this vacant lot into a mixed-use building that not only provides essential housing but also brings welcome new commercial space into this established community.

Click below to read more about The Nines mixed-use!

Crane Spotted at Shaganappi!

Crane!

Not only is the crane now on site at NAI Advent's Shaganappi Multi project, but the Development Permit was just released!

Adjacent to Bow Trail, the Shaganappi Multi will deliver 99 residential units in Calgary’s southwest community of Shaganappi. The development will provide studio, one-, two-, and three-bedroom options for rent, ranging from 475 to 1200 square feet in area.

The unit identity, façade articulation, and balcony privacy are achieved through a pixelated three-dimensional composition integral to the architectural massing. This hyperarticulation responds to privacy adjacencies— smaller balconies with less glazing are located higher and positioned to reduce overlook into neighbours’ yards. Rectangular ‘pixels’ puncture the massing to carve outdoor amenity spaces within the façade while simultaneously facilitating porosity for natural lighting and views. The ‘C’ shaped building form was designed to maximize the number of units through the use of a double loaded corridor. As a result, a private amenity courtyard is naturally formed within the confines of the building mass, with a large portion of the available units having views to this sheltered landscaped space.

The Shaganappi Multi is a sister project to the Killarney Multi which is also making progress in construction!

Click below to find out more about the Shaganppi Multi!

Bowness 24 Multi Construction Almost Complete!

The construction for the Bowness 24 Multi Residential is making progress—we are excited to share an update on this unique addition to Calgary northwest community of Bowness!

The Bowness community is divided into two centres. The Main Street shops are situated on the east side of the CP mainline, while the community hall, high school, and grocery store are centrally located on the west side. Although Bowness is predominantly a low-density community, the western centre is adjacent to a pocket of multi-residential development.

The Bowness 24 Multi stands out as a more contemporary building compared to the neighbouring townhouse clusters and low-rise apartments. It provides much-needed density with 1 and 2 bedroom units and offers an urban interpretation of the smaller-scale multifamily buildings nearby. The building's design features an intentionally restrained palette the uses white Hardie lap siding against dark corrugated metal cladding, complemented by the warmth of the wood soffit. A low-sloped roof with generous overhangs reinforces the residential architectural language. Surface parking is provided at the rear of the building for both occupants and visitors.

Click below to learn more!

Killarney Multi Underway!

Strategically located just a few blocks away from Calgary's popular 17th Avenue — a commercial corridor and Main Street focused on further redevelopment - the Killarney Multi is a 96 unit building by NAI Advent that will soon become a significant addition to the area.

This multi-residential project will benefit from the new land use amendments and infrastructure improvements brought about by the redevelopment of the 37th Street Main Street. The architectural design of the project highlights unit identity, facade articulation, and balcony privacy with a pixelated three-dimensional look. Lower parts of the building have traditionally stacked balconies, while side-facing units have none to reduce overlook onto the adjacent low density housing. This design enhances visibility around the building edges, especially at the corner site. Rooftop amenity spaces are placed to maximize sun exposure and views, creating a visually appealing urban living environment.

There are numerous design considerations that went into this project—be sure to click below to read the full description on the Killarney Multi.

OPUS's 'The Nines' Breaking Ground!

We're thrilled to celebrate the progress on 'The Nines,' which OPUS recently broke ground on!

If you can spot the hardhat with the G on it, you'll see our principal, Trent, enjoying a sunny day with the eager project team all ready to get construction underway. 'The Nines' will be an 85-unit mixed-use development for OPUS, located at the intersection of Elbow Drive and Southland Drive in Calgary’s Haysboro community. We are now on our way to providing the community with a six-storey building featuring 16,000 square feet of retail space below the 85 apartments. Our updated renderings below give you a sneak peek of what's to come!

The residential units, ranging from 450 to 1300 square feet, will span the second to sixth floors. They will be available in one-, two-, and three-bedroom configurations, each offering private balconies accessible from the main bedroom and living room.

One challenge encountered in the design was integrating an underground parking structure into the constrained depth resulting from the site's slope from one corner to the other. Our objective was to ensure barrier-free entrances from both streets, along with creating an inviting streetscape for both the main entrance and the retail areas facing the public streets.

We’re proud to be a part of a team providing more housing for Calgarians and opportunity for businesses.

As construction on 'The Nines' gets out of the ground, we'll continue to showcase its progress. To learn more about how we tackled the design challenges and explore the project’s unique features, click the button below!

University Towns Development Permit Submitted!

Gravity is delighted to share that we have submitted the development permit for the University Towns!

The University District Towns is a 40 unit townhome development for Crystal Creek Homes set out to provide empty nesters looking to downsize more housing options that won’t compromise their lifestyle. Each of the six buildings has between four and eight units and all offer a mix of two-to-three-bedroom configurations each just under 2,000 square feet.

Directly west of the site there will be a future park planned for residents to have direct access to. There will be an additional access point between two of the buildings that leads directly to the City’s regional pathway. Once the park to the west is complete, the townhouses will be surrounded by park space on three sides offering residents a beautiful green space to enjoy as their backyard.

To address the University District's request that this project not mimic the existing surrounding buildings, we chose darker and moodier exterior tones that still respond the modern aesthetic of the community. We complemented these tones with a long reddish brick, adding a sophisticated and classic touch to the contemporary massing.

The interior paved laneway grants residents access to 80 parking stalls inside private garages, and is accessible for visitors to walk through to reach the green space to the north from the street to the south. Additional parking for guests is available on the street.

Our clients recognized the importance of aging in place— therefore, each home has an elevator that goes to every floor. This represented a significant design challenge, but it wasn’t something Crystal Creek wanted to compromise on so we were able to successfully address this throughout the design process.

The development permit has just been submitted. We couldn’t be prouder to be the design team behind these inclusively designed homes.

Click the link below to read more and follow our socials to keep updated on University Towns progress!

Moving in to Mission Flats!

Gravity is pleased to share that residents are now calling Mission Flats home.

Mission Flats is a five-storey, 67 unit residential development by NAI Advent that was designed to fit in with both the traditional and modern brick apartment blocks that form the immediate context of this site. We also designed the building to have symmetrical massing to complement the adjacent older buildings. In addition, our team designed a thick roof that appears to float above the top floor, adding a contemporary element to the composition.

While residents are currently moving in during the winter, we are looking forward to springtime progress so the residents of the eleven garden suites can take advantage of the beautiful landscaped areas that will surround the building!

We thrive on finding solutions that add value for both our clients and the communities that we work in. One of our goals with this project was to efficiently offer Calgarians more housing options in the high-density community of Mission, and Mission Flats has achieved this. We are deeply passionate about addressing the housing needs of Canadians and take great satisfaction in witnessing the spaces we’ve designed being occupied with new residents.

To learn more about Mission Flats click below.

Kelowna's Dual DP Submissions!

Development Permits have been been submitted for Badke Mills Road Multi & Mills Road Townhomes by Kerr Developments.

Gravity’s is thrilled to be meaningfully contributing to the BC Interior’s growth strategy by helping to fill the gaps in both rental and market housing. Kelowna will be seeing two major developments come to the community of Rutland that aim to offer residents more housing options.

The Badke Mills Road project will introduce 120 rental housing units through the development potential outlined in the 2024 Official Community Plan (OCP). This purpose-built 121,000 ft², 6 -storey wood-frame building was inspired by brownstone-lined streets that provide residents contemporary features with a harvest-hued warmth. Ranging from 1-, 2-, and 3-bedroom configurations residents can enjoy spacious balconies, patios and shared amenity spaces. To maintain momentum with the project schedule, this project depended on early engagement with the Kelowna planning team to ensure that the technical design complied with the newly enacted Zoning Bylaw. The development permit was submitted early January 2024 and we are looking forward to make more progress on this rental development in 2024.

To learn more about this project click here.

Secondly, we have our Mills Road Townhomes development which will also be located in Kelowna’s Rutland community, making it an exciting expansion to this up-and-coming area. This project has been designed for diverse groups and intergenerational families, and will contain 3 different townhome typologies with different layouts to best suit multi-family needs. Our team developed a site plan that accommodates 55 townhome units, aligning with the Official Community Plan (OCP) designation, and maintains context with the surrounding developments. The site slopes gradually down towards the south property line which created a challenge when trying to meet the Zoning Bylaw’s building height requirements. Our team was able to resolve this issue and meet the City’s height requirement by producing grading studies and working closely with the Civil team.

To learn more about this project click here.

Advent's Killarney Multi DP Approval

The Development Permit for Advent’s Killarney Multi has just been approved!⁠

We are pleased to announce there is more housing coming to Calgary! Characterized by a facade with an alternating pattern of white aluminum and charred wood-toned cladding, this 78,000 ft², 6-storey building will contain 96 units along the 37th Street SW “Mainstreet” corridor, providing convenient access to transit and amenities. We are very grateful (and pleasantly surprised!) for the overall excitement and acceptance of this project from the community of Killarney into their established but evolving neighbourhood, as their support made the Development Approval process constructive and quick.

Offering 1, 2, and 3-bedroom configurations spanning 470 ft² to 1300 ft² layouts, units boast generous oversized balconies, underground parking, and rooftop amenity spaces that are contextually responsive to views and sun exposure. This design aims to enhance the quality of life for occupants and offers opportunities for social collisions and deeper engagement with neighbours in the fully landscaped, interior courtyard.

Since the DP submission, we’ve made some changes to the façade: The Killarney Multi’s exterior will now be complimented by a soft white corrugated metal siding, which will provide a deeper contrast to the wood and metal elements found elsewhere on the exterior design.

Find out more here.

Meredith at Edmonton Trail Construction Update

This summer has seen the project we designed on Meredith at Edmonton Trail start to take it’s final form.

The original building on this site was addressed to Meredith Road, however the main entrance for the new building faces east, so the new address is 63 Edmonton Trail NE.

As a mixed use building, the structure is a combination of reinforced concrete and wood frame. The uppermost concrete floor is the second floor, creating a fire rated assembly between the retail and residential uses. The third floor and roof are wood frame. With the framing complete earlier in the year, and most of the upper floor windows in place, the cladding is currently being installed. In these construction images taken by Bryce Baker, the playful wave of variegated metal panels is taking shape.

Learn more about this project.

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Mission Flats June 2023 Construction Update

Advent’s five-storey Mission Flats multi-residential in Calgary’s Mission neighbourhood has been fully framed and the installation of membranes and cladding are underway!⁠

This five-storey residential development was designed by Gravity for NAI Advent. The contractor, Trimount, has completed the framing and roofing, has installed the windows, and is currently working on the interior and exterior finishes.

The building contains 67 residential units, including 11 garden suites, above a two-storey underground parkade. Parking is accessed from the lane to ensure an uninterrupted pedestrian environment along the stately, tree-lined street the building faces. This apartment-style condominium building was designed to fit in with the neighbouring modernist brick apartment blocks by borrowing both their brick materiality and symmetrical aesthetic. In a more traditional gesture, the roof playfully floats over the top floor.

We asked Bryce Baker to take these new images of construction progress. Learn more about this project.

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Shaganappi Multi DP Submitted!

Shaganappi Multi is a 99-home project with high visibility from Bow Trail SW, close proximity to Shaganappi Point LRT Station, and views to the Shaganappi Point Golf Course. The building form is configured as a ‘C’ to fill the site and maximize the number of units along the perimeter of a double-loaded corridor. Its industrial cladding materials respond to the high vehicular traffic flowing past this site while warmer wood tones respond to human-scaled balconies.

Unit identity, facade articulation, and balcony privacy are achieved through a pixelated three-dimensional composition integral to the architectural massing. This hyperarticulation responds to privacy adjacencies; smaller balconies with less glazing are located higher and positioned to reduce overlook into neighbours’ yards.

This articulation also facilitates porosity around building edges to enhance visibility on a corner site. Oversized balconies span the width of entire unit faces to convey porosity and reduce the perception of the building’s six-storey visual mass and roofline. Outdoor amenity spaces and landscaping are situated to provide enjoyment for the residents while also acting as a buffer to adjacent residences.

This development has been submitted for its development permit, and construction is expected to start later in the year.

You can find out more on our project page or on Calgary’s DMAP page.