A Calgary parkade won a Governor-General’s Medal for Architecture earlier this week.
The Parkade of the Future, aka Platform, on Ninth Avenue S.E. was one of 11 cited by the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) for its “exemplary approaches to sustainability, and the support and advancement of equity, diversity, and inclusion.”
Located in the East Village, near the Central Library and National Music Centre, the structure includes a cafe, basketball court, exhibition courtyard and the PLATFORM Innovation Centre.
There’s also a removable recycled aluminum shroud, which the RAIC said “enhances flexibility , allowing future balcony integration.”
“By transforming a conventional typology into adaptable urban infrastructure,” the RAIC said, “the project demonstrates how public architecture can evolve alongside shifting environmental, economic and social needs.”
The Parkade of the Future was a collaboration between by Winnipeg’s 5468796 Architecture, and Calgary’s Kasian Design.
It’s the first parking garage to have received the award.
The RAIC posted the following jury comments about the structure.
“The jury appreciated the Parkade of the Future for its poetic reimagining of the conventional parking structure as a civic and ecological infrastructure, blending operational efficiency with urban generosity,” it said.
“The proposal transforms a typically utilitarian typology into a porous, adaptable framework that anticipates shifting mobility systems, including electrification and future transit modes, while opening the ground plane to public life.
“Through its integration of vertical landscape strategies, carbon-conscious construction, and activated shared spaces, the project reframes the parkade not as a residual urban void, but as an evolving piece of public realm infrastructure that supports both environmental performance and community engagement.”
