Edmonton’s Urban Form: Towers or Mid-Rise Buildings?
It’s no secret that Edmonton is set to experience a boom in development and growth in the post-COVID world. As prices in every large Canadian city continue to be inflated, now even in Calgary, Edmonton may be next in line to see a rise in developments around its downtown core, especially ones which provide residential units and lifestyle amenities. If this growth is truly on the horizon, I believe it’s important to examine the typologies of new developments, along with how well these buildings fit within existing neighbourhoods in which they are built.
There are dozens of proposed or under-construction buildings around Downtown and Wihkwentowin alone, however they can generally fall into one of two categories: High-Rise Towers and Mid-Rise Blocks, both residential or mixed-use. Both of these typologies have benefits and drawbacks when it comes to urban integration, density, and creativity, and I’ll use a recent example of each to highlight these elements.
High-Rise Tower: Encore Tower
Standing prominent on the corner of 105th Street and 102nd Ave, Encore Tower is a great example of high-rise residential and highlights the pros and cons of this typology of building.
The most obvious pro is the significance of the tower itself, with it having a visible impact on Edmonton’s skyline. This prominence increases the visibility of the tower and its perceived impact and importance in downtown. Secondly, This tower has the ability to provide a high-density of both residential and street-level commercial opportunities. The economics of this type of project often allow for high-quality materials which may better integrate with the streetscape, such as with the red-brick podium of Encore.
The main con with this style of development is the environmental impact it has relative to the amount of people it houses. Towers almost always have to be built using concrete and/or steel, which is a large source of CO2 emissions in of itself. Glass towers, which encore is, also have higher emissions on average as they are less energy efficient. Another con is affordability, as these buildings require more expensive materials and construction techniques than other forms of residential.
Mid-Rise Block: Mercury Block
Being one of the newest additions to Wihkwentowin and the 124th Street area, Mercury Block highlights the best elements of mid-rise developments.
The form of this building is very human-scale: It doesn’t feel as imposing to be around as a skyscraper and occupies a larger portion of the block than a tower would. Mercury Block takes this idea further than the baseline, containing a cool plaza and many inward-facing commercial units. Secondly, the economics of this style of building allow for the construction of many units for a less expensive price, potentially allowing for less expensive units than in a tower.
The main con present is the lack of prominence with this style of building. It inherently doesn’t stand out as much as a tower, which may make its existence more obscure. Along with this, if the building is tall and is built in the block style, it may become even more imposing than a tower.
Conclusion/My Opinion
Both typologies of building clearly have benefits and can add to their surrounding neighbourhoods, however I personally prefer the mid-rise style. I believe that having a density of these buildings in one area can create a more human-scale environment, especially if they are mixed-use with street-level commercial opportunities. Having a similar amount of units to a tower with less expensive prices is also appreciated.
-Written by Luka Zvonkovic