Case Study: Alberta

New Community Development – Calgary & Edmonton

The Canadian cities of Calgary and Edmonton have been expanding rapidly. The majority of this expansion has been in the form of new communities and expanding suburban areas on previously undeveloped lands.

Over the past 25 years, IBI Group has established a comprehensive practice in all facets related to the development of new communities in the suburban residential areas. This practice includes market research, planning, design, preparation of construction documents and field supervision for development of land, residential areas, retail facilities, community facilities, transportation and infrastructure and systems. In these capacities, IBI Group is active in every major quadrant of Edmonton and Calgary in all facets of this work. IBI Group accounts for a substantial amount of the professional activity related to new community development in these two urban areas.

Calgary

Calgary Light Rail Transit System

Much of the development in south Calgary is adjacent to MacLeod Trail, a very congested arterial road. One of IBI Group’s initial assignments in Calgary examined public transit for the City of Calgary as a whole and, specifically, the construction of a light rail transit (“LRT”) system.

IBI Group provided transportation planning, architectural and civil services for all of the stations along the south, north east and downtown legs of the system. As a result of the success of the system, additional stations were added and IBI Group provided full services for the Canyon Meadows station, a complex which includes a parking structure (the first for the system) and an overpass structure which spans both MacLeod Trail and the CN railway tracks.

Expertise in LRT established in the Calgary project has subsequently been deployed in projects elsewhere, including Toronto, Vancouver and the Middle East. IBI Group is also currently playing a major role in the Orange County Transit Authority LRT Project in California.

Rocky Ridge

Rocky Ridge, developed by Marquis Developments, is a comprehensively designed 314-acre community. The initial phase included a community/sales centre with outdoor amenities. IBI Group’s architectural and landscape group provided full services for this important amenity and IBI Group’s engineering and landscape architecture group provided ongoing services for the balance of the development. The buildings were coordinated through comprehensive development guidelines, administered by IBI Group’s own architectural controls team.

Agrium Inc. Head Office

IBI Group was selected by Agrium Inc. to provide full architectural services for Agrium’s new office to a design-build team headed up by Opus Developments. IBI GROUP believes that its design was chosen because it established an identify for Agrium, facilitated communication between Agrium’s diverse components and provided a quality work environment.

Edmonton

Similar to Calgary, IBI Group has established a substantial market position in Edmonton in the four areas of its practice.