Suncor Energy Centre

Suncor Energy Centre
Petro-Canada Centre in 1991 (now Suncor Energy Centre)
Map
General information
StatusCompleted
TypeOffice
Location150 6th Avenue SW
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Coordinates51°02′53″N 114°03′48″W / 51.04806°N 114.06333°W / 51.04806; -114.06333
Construction startedApril 2, 1982[1]
Topped-outMay 26, 1983 (West)
Completed1984
CostCAD$200-million (equivalent to $714-million in 2023)
OwnerBrookfield Properties & ARCI Inc.
ManagementBrookfield Properties
Height
Roof215 m (705 ft) (west),[3] 130 m (427 ft) (east)[4]
Technical details
Floor count53 (west), 32 (east)
Floor area101,258 m2 (1,089,930 sq ft) (west) 45,410 m2 (488,800 sq ft) (east)[2]
Design and construction
Architect(s)WZMH Architects
DeveloperBrookfield Properties
Main contractorCANA Construction Company Limited

The Suncor Energy Centre,[5] formerly the Petro-Canada Centre, is a 181,000-square-metre (1,950,000 sq ft) project composed of two granite and reflective glass-clad office towers of 32 floors and 52 floors, in the office core of downtown Calgary, Alberta. The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat lists the west tower (215 m or 705 ft as measured to top of the structure), as the 23rd tallest building in Canada and the 6th tallest skyscraper outside of Toronto, as of 2023.[2] The west tower overtook the Calgary Tower as the tallest free-standing structure in Calgary from its completion in 1984, until being surpassed by the neighbouring Bow in 2010.[6] The office towers encompass 158,000 m2 (1,700,000 sq ft) of rentable office space with the complex also containing 23,000 m2 (250,000 sq ft) of retail and underground parking area. A glass-enclosed walkway (part of the +15 System) provides shelter and easy access to the surrounding buildings.

The building was often called Red Square in its early years, a derisive reference to its primary occupant Petro-Canada, which was a federal Crown Corporation created under Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau's National Energy Program.[7] Following the completion of the complex in 1984, one writer for the Calgary Herald described the buildings as "a twin-towered, $200-million monument to socialism", and later Premier Peter Lougheed would blame Petro-Canada and the two towers for the collapse of the Calgary real-estate boom, in part by flooding the market.[8] Petro-Canada was privatized in 1991 under the Brian Mulroney government and acquired in 2009 by the complex's current namesake, Suncor Energy, which continues to operate the company as a subsidiary.[9]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference CH1984look was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b "Suncor Energy Centre I". Skyscraper Center. Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat. Retrieved December 18, 2023.
  3. ^ Emporis (2007). "Petro-Canada Centre - West Tower". Archived from the original on July 1, 2004. Retrieved April 12, 2007.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  4. ^ Emporis (2007). "Petro-Canada Centre - East Tower". Archived from the original on October 28, 2006. Retrieved April 12, 2007.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  5. ^ The Canadian Press (August 4, 2009). "Suncor rebrands 'Red Square'". CBC News. Archived from the original on August 7, 2009. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
  6. ^ "The Bow rises as Calgary's tallest building". CBC News. July 8, 2010. Archived from the original on September 28, 2013. Retrieved March 17, 2020.
  7. ^ Fotheringham, Allan (November 14, 1983). "The 52-storey federal insult". Maclean's. p. 88. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
  8. ^ Smith, Donald B. (2005). Calgary's Grand Story: The Making of a Prairie Metropolis from the Viewpoint of Two Heritage Buildings. Calgary, AB: University of Calgary Press. p. 282. ISBN 9781552381748.
  9. ^ "Suncor, Petro-Canada announce merger". CBC News. March 23, 2009. Retrieved July 9, 2020.