type: Single-family renovation and addition

location: Bayloch, Nova Scotia

status: Under construction

project description:

The Bayloch Beach House is the renovation and expansion of a long standing family home along the shore of St. Georges Bay. The home is the central gathering place of the extended family and is being updated to continue the tradition of gathering and celebrating family for generations to come.

type: Residential

location: Calgary, AB

status: Under construction

project description:

Located on a narrow site backing onto the Elbow River, the design of this project has been shaped by the flood of 2013. Although the site is relatively deep, the allowable building footprint is dramatically reduced by line of the floodway which cuts diagonally through the property. Our design concept raises the living spaces above the 100’ yr flood elevation atop a concrete entry and garage. The front and rear of the ground floor can be opened to allow flood waters to pass through and easily dry out after the water recedes with minimal damage to the structure since much of the effort after the flood of 2013 was placed on removing moldy and damaged construction.

Our clients lived directly across the street from this property so both of their properties were flooded, making this project even more relevant to their commitment to live and enjoy this neighborhood adjacent to the Elbow River.  There are hundreds of residential properties located along the banks of Calgary’s’ rivers and we believe this particular example establishes a unique precedent of seamlessly integrating flood mitigation strategies into a strong architectural design concept rather than employing “stilt” construction that simply removes the house from the engagement of the pedestrian ground plane.

type: Condominium Unit Renovation

location: Vancouver, BC

status: Complete

project description:

This project was a comprehensive renovation of a three level, three bedroom condominium in the Kerrisdale neighbourhood of Vancouver. The upgrade of the central stair to meet current code was a significant challenge, so a three story bookcase was introduced to connect the floors and create unifying element that not only resolved the code requirements but created a unique feature of the home for the owner’s extensive library.

type: Residential

location: Fernie, BC

status: Complete

project description:

Built in 1912, this miners house was full or original character and located only a few blocks from quaint downtown Fernie. We completed a full renovation of the house and drew inspiration from the coal mining of the area to paint the exterior of the house black with contrasting clean white for the interior. At only 805 sf, this home makes a cosy and well appointed getaway for outdoor enthusiasts.

type: Residential

location: Springbank, AB

status: Completed in 2015

photo credits: Jean Perron Photograpy | Angus MacKenzie Photography

project description:

Sited and designed to capture a panoramic view of the foothills and rocky mountains, the Springbank house is a site specific solution that assembles two sloped “L” roof forms to open towards the view and create a central outdoor courtyard protected from strong westerly winds. View corridors throughout the home intentionally connect the family to the site and materials were selected for their visual texture and long lasting durability in the dynamic climate of this region .

type: Single-family custom home

location: Lethbridge, AB

status: Under construction

project description:

The London Road house is a single family residential project designed for an active family who cycle, garden, appreciate design and are interested in living simply in a home designed specifically for them. They own a sloped corner lot in an old neighborhood known for it's character heritage homes.  As a strategy to conserve costs, we detached the garage from being part of the house and located it on the low south end of the site off the lane. To take advantage of the views and better connect with the higher north street, we created an open plan living space, kitchen and map room on the upper floor slightly raised above grade. The bedrooms and family room are all located below in the walk out lower floor with direct access to the yard between the body of the house and the garage. This creates a sun filled micro climate garden and patio protected from the wind.

The house is expressed as an open ended "tube" sitting upon a concrete box that nestles into the sloped site. The tube is clad in reclaimed barn wood and will cantilever beyond the concrete base to the north and the south to create modern "porches" without additional square footage costs. The deep overhangs and slat wood sides of the porches protect from the strong south sun and west winds while providing privacy and expanded outdoor living space.

We have tried to create a simple but unique design for their family that uses conventional construction methods and materials in a more daring way that better connects them to the outdoors and to their neighborhood. 

type: Single Family Residential

location: Crowsnest Pass, AB

status: In Development

project description:

Located in the heart of the Crowsnest Pass in southwestern Alberta, this home has dramatic and sweeping views of the Rocky Mountains. Designed for a couple who have a passion for this area, the house is intended to provide a constant and intimate connection to the beauty that surrounds it.

type: Renovation and Expansion

location: Calgary, AB

status: In Development

project description:

In early 2018, Nyhoff Architecture was selected to develop the Functional Program for the Renovation and possible expansion of the Fort Calgary Museum. In the summer of 2018 Nyhoff was selected as Prime Consultant for the project renovation and is currently working with Fort Calgary Stakeholders and the Calgary Municipal Land Corporation to determine the scope and direction of the project.

photo credit: Yellowhouse Aerial

type: Interior / Retail

location: Edmonton, AB

status: Completed 2017

awards:

2018 Prairie Design Award of Merit

2018 Southern Alberta AWMAC Award of Excellence - Design Innovation Award

photo credits: Jean Perron Photography

project description:

Nyhoff Architecture was the prime consultant for the design of the Royal Alberta Museum Gift Shop located within the new Royal Alberta Museum in Edmonton. The design concept was inspired by antique museum specimen trays and the nine Tahedl mosaic panels that previously adorned the Canada Post building on the site. We created a modern merchandising system that allows for endless display combinations of souvenirs, jewelry, stationary, books, blankets candy, posters and other trinkets. Intended as a family friendly space, a forgiving palate of whitewashed plywood was used with a compliment of colors and finishes that allow the retail team to play and evolve the store over time.

type: Master Planning / Urban Design / Heritage Conservation / Adaptive Reuse / Workplace / Interior Design

location: Calgary, AB

status: Completed in 2017

photo credits: Latreille Architectural Photography | Angus Mackenzie Photography

awards:

Winner of 2018 National Trust for Canada Cornerstone Award

Winner of 2017 Calgary Mayor's Urban Design Award for Urban Architecture

Winner of 2014 Calgary Heritage Authority Lion Award for Community Vitalization

Winner of 2013 Calgary Mayor’s Urban Design Award  for Approved or Adopted Urban Design Plan

project description:

The King Edward School is an integrated, mixed-use ‘hub’ that provides a dynamic and collaborative gathering place focused on the incubation and advancement of professional arts practice, social innovation and community development in South Calgary.

While the core operations of the multi-tenant arts incubator are housed in the original 1912 sandstone school building and modern expansion, the remainder of the site has been developed comprehensively to provide mixed-income residential uses, amenities and public spaces that reinforce the purpose and sustainability of the anchor arts facility.

type: Workplace / Adaptive Reuse

location: Calgary, AB

status: Completed 2018

project description:

Urban Systems is a multidisciplinary strategic planning, engineering, environmental science, urban design and landscape consulting firm with a staff of approximately 120 people in their Calgary office.

Urban Systems intentionally selected the two floors of the historic 1916 Customs House building in downtown Calgary as their new home to better connect their staff with their community, their values and their mission.

As a Municipally and Provincially registered historic resource, our team re-imagined a workplace environment that celebrates the historic character and construction of the building while introducing new visual and physical connections between the two floors to support Urban's progressive culture and work flow.

A primary feature of the new design was the removal of a significant section of the original second level floor. The removal of the floor not only interconnected the upper office and social spaces with the lower reception and meeting rooms; it connected Urban Systems to the urban fabric of the city through the large two storey arched windows.

Calgary neighborhood street patterns were drawn upon as inspiration for large scale graphics and meeting room names.

photography: Jean Perron Photography

type: Heritage conservation / Adaptive reuse / Workplace + Interior Design

location: Calgary, AB

status: Completed in 2016

photo credits: Robert Lemermeyer Photography

awards:

2017 - Honourable Mention in the 2017 Calgary Mayor's Urban Design Awards for The Mawson Urban Design Award

2018 - Calgary Heritage Lion Award for Resource Conservation - Honourable Mention

2018 - Alberta Steel Design Award of Excellence - Winner

project description:

Nyhoff Architecture was the prime consultant for the conservation, renovation and adaptive reuse of the historic St. Louis Hotel in Calgary’s emerging East Village.

The St. Louis Hotel represents the former retail and commercial core of the city and survived as one of six (6) hotels in the city built before World War One. The original hotel contained 60 rooms, a bar, a café, a barbershop, cigar stand and was a popular watering hole to many of Calgary’s politicians.

The building was built in 1913 and its upgrading and rejuvenation was an important step towards re-establishing 8th Avenue as a vital and historic gateway between the emerging East Village, the New Central Library and Downtown.

type: Interior Renovation

location: Calgary, AB

status: Under Construction

project description:

The iconic MacEwan Hall Ballroom at the University of Calgary Students’ Union building reached the end of its’ lifespan.

Since 1967 the venue has been a favorite place to see live music.

The valued room has served the University as a multipurpose space for special events, professional development and student programming.

Our office was asked to establish a new and dynamic vision for the space with greatly improved sound and acoustics that could be flexible, durable and memorable to visitors.

Although driven by extremely functional and technical acoustic requirements, the room aspires to create a singular creative design concept and a memorable experience for all who visit the space.

Side wall phenolic panels are hard surfaced for long term durability and angled to diffuse sound. Ceiling panels are completely absorptive and carefully matched to extend the visual illusion of a continuous band. Each band is spaced to allow for recessed light trusses and tracks. Front and end walls are completely absorptive as well with technically spaces slats concealing diffusers and speakers while unifying the elevation.

Intended to serve a professional seminar during the day, a rock concert that evening and a wedding the next day, the adaptability and artful experience of the room is the result of intense building system and material coordination.

type: Multifamily Mixed Use

location: Calgary, AB

status: Unbuilt

project description:

Southland Mixed Use was a feasibility study prepared for a Calgary developer. The program consisted of multifamily condominiums atop a commercial retail podium. Our intention was to avoid a layered cake appearance by merging the smaller scale module of the upper level condominiums into the façade of the CRUs below. In this study, the CRU space was occupied by a City Library so the smaller scale frames were ideally suited for quiet lounge spaces, meeting rooms and café seating.

type: Workplace

location: Calgary, AB

status: Completed 2019

photo credits: Jean Perron Photography

project description:

Nyhoff Architecture was selected to re-imagine Ellis Don’s world-leading construction and building services workplace in Calgary.

We worked closely with the Ellis Don team to create a new and dynamic environment that strengthened and enhanced their critical work flow and team structure.

type: Park Building / Education Centre / Net Zero Energy Design

location: Calgary, AB

status: Building Completed 2020

awards:

Honourable Mention in the 2017 Calgary Mayor's Urban Design Awards for City Edge Development

project description:

Located at the intersection of the Natural and Cultural Transects of the Haskayne Legacy Park, the 2,400 sf Pavilion Building is an Education Centre designed to provide users with an opportunity to enhance their social, educational and event experiences through a direct connection to the natural Bow Valley landscape. The building provides a focal point for the park and highlights the important intersection of the Cultural and Natural transects. It provides visitors with a heightened experience of the site through visual transparency and physical openness of the space. A simple palette of wood, weathering steel and concrete create a natural, durable, timeless and low maintenance composition. Finally, the building is being designed to achieve a net zero energy performance.

photography: Angus Mackenzie

type: New Student Housing

location: Calgary, AB

status: Concept Design

project description:

The 17th Avenue Student Housing project is a conceptual proposal for innovative student rental housing.

Situated on a prime location in close proximity to SAIT, the University of Calgary and abundant transit, the project seeks to offer a unique housing alternative for today’s progressive and diverse student population.

The project establishes a new model of residential development along the 16th Avenue corridor. With high visibility, the slender massing and design character of the building introduces a more urban mix and experience to this context.

The ground level provides expanded commercial amenities along 17th Avenue, 10th Street and wraps around to the south facing lane. The ground level also considers and incorporates evolving functional requirements such as car share, electric vehicle charge stations, a recycling and compost centre, bicycle parking and gear storage, amazon package lockers and food service deliveries. While strengthening the urban edge, these functional needs come together to create a synergistic and dynamic space at the mid-block portal that physically and visually connects the street and lane breaking the mass of the building down and highlighting the residential entries.

The second level provides entrepreneurial student co working and business incubator space for building residents. Upper levels are connected through the portal by a glassed circulation bridge animating the building’s expression and providing users with connections to the neighborhood and city beyond.

The residential units are envisioned to be efficient, flexible and adaptable. Units are able to be ganged in order to create different combinations of unit types and are largely “built in” to support today’s student mindset and expectation.

The lower level rooftop provides a communal rooftop patio as a shared building amenity, while upper levels provide community gardens and photovoltaic arrays.

The mix of public spaces and building amenities combine to create a vibrant and active student community.

type: Multi-Family Condominium

location: Calgary, AB

status: Under Construction

project description:

Minto Annex Condominium is a 108 unit, 9 storey project in the heart of the Kensington community. Drawing inspiration from urban environments, the design is intended to evoke a boutique scaled loft warehouse aesthetic with a focus on creating an intimate relationship with the quiet one way pedestrian street. The simple and repetitive design components create an economy of scale across the project and allow flexibility for unit evolution over the time of the development. A rooftop terrace is planned to extend the living area and provide expansive and uninterrupted views of downtown Calgary

type: Interior / Retail

location: Edmonton, AB

status: Completed in 2016

photo credits: Jean Perron Photography

project description:

The Legislative Assembly of Alberta Gift Shop is located in the renovated Federal Building in Edmonton.

Creating a modern gallery aesthetic was a goal of this project to serve as a backdrop to a myriad of Alberta created artwork, jewelry, stationary, books, artifacts, craft and souvenirs. Part of the design features a “regional showcase” display which highlights the unique qualities of various regions of the province. Nyhoff Architecture designed the merchandising plan and all exhibit and display fixtures with the intent of creating a retail environment that is completely flexible and adaptable.

type - Adaptive reuse / Heritage conservation / Conceptual

location: Calgary, AB

status: Completed 2013 (conceptual)

awards:

Winner - 2013 / Conceptual Proposal / 2014 Lion Award for Advocacy and Awareness

Winner - 2013 Mayor’s Urban Design Award for Conceptual/Theoretical Urban Design Projects

project description: 

In 2013, Nyhoff Architecture participated in a dTalks event about one of Calgary’s most significant examples of Brutalist Architecture.

Our submission represented the study of a question: How can this site accommodate growth to a competitive level of density while conserving and adaptively reusing the CBE Building as part of a larger development? Our exploration included the research of history, precedent, fact gathering, bylaw and code analysis, diagramming, and optional design studies. We challenged the limitations of the site and existing building to yield a viable opportunity to conserve the CBE building in a highly designed building massing that improved the urban fabric of this block with an FAR of 15 and a total GFA of 158,000 m2.

type: Multi-Family Condominium

location: Calgary, AB

status: Completed 2016

project description:

Nyhoff Architecture was selected to design the Attainable Homes Varsity Project on the highly visible and active intersection of Shaganappi Drive and Varsity Drive NW. The three storey 26 unit multifamily condominium project is an important urban development that infills a vacant parcel of land and establishes a visually dynamic and prominent gateway to the Varsity community. Utilizing a stacked double loaded plan over 31 below grade parking stalls, the project achieves a high level of efficiency and economy. The design conceals the stacked plan by creating a graphic patterned exterior that accentuates the windows to emphasize a sense of openness and visual depth.

type: Office Upgrade

location: Calgary, AB

status: Under Construction

project description:

The National Building is an iconic cornerstone of 17th Avenue built in the 1970’s. Nyhoff Architecture was engaged in the upgrade of the building to bring it up to today’s office standards. The scope of work includes a new exterior window wall system and completely new interior tenant fit outs.

type: Multifamily Infill

location: Calgary, AB

status: Feasibility

project description:

The design for this inner-city infill site proposes to consolidate two neighboring single family lots for the purpose of constructing a five-unit row-house style multi-residential development.

The proposed development shares a slender common drive (designed with woonerf characteristics in mind) that provides access to the private garages and the lane beyond. The project is compliant with existing Land Use Bylaws and requires no variances.

We believe this project is exemplary of a new strategy for inner city intensification.

The massing of the five row-houses replaces two typical single-family homes while maintaining a sensitive fit within the existing context. The row houses are served by one curb cut and the project has the ability to mirror itself with a matching group of row-houses opposite the common drive for greater land efficiency.

Each row-house has a ground level front door clearly viewed from the street. Garage spaces can be adapted to workplaces to support live work use concepts. The row-house plan designs are flexible enough to provide a range of bedroom combinations from loft style for singles to three-bedroom families. The designs are also adaptable to include a residential elevator to enhance accessibility and aging in place.

Each row house is also provided with a private rooftop terrace connecting the project to downtown views of the urban city core.

The project is envisioned as a wood frame solution with no below grade development to support the projects’ affordability goals.

type: Adaptive Reuse / Community Building

location: Calgary, AB

status: Complete

awards:

Honourable Mention in the 2017 Calgary Mayor's Urban Design Awards for the Great City, Great Design category

project description:

We are currently working on the renovation and expansion of the Willow Ridge Community Centre into an improved facility that provides more attractive and accessible amenities for current and future community members, neighboring communities and various additional user groups.

The goals of the project are achieved through a comprehensive vision that distributes the project resources evenly across the scope of work. Our interest is not in creating a singular architectural “moment” but rather an overall enhancement, upgrade and unification of the building and site through many design opportunities:

• Improve and unify the external appearance and identity of the building through color and materiality.

• Build upon the original character of the 1960’s base building.

• Creatively improve and integrate physical accessibility throughout the site and the building to ensure the facility is accessible to all ages and abilities. Barrier free design should be invisible and seamless.

• Visually reconnect the facility to the site and neighborhood by enlarging existing windows to create new visual connections into the building and outward to the site. This not only enhances a visitors experience, but assists with creating passive supervision to and from the building making the site safer and more welcoming to enjoy.

• Update the interior finishes to modernize the facility with durable and low maintenance materials.

• Create a simple, flexible, adaptable and intimately scaled Hall that expands the Community Associations programming and revenue generating opportunities. The building should be fully engaged in the heart of the site, generate and support year-round use and activity. 

Our Vision is to return the site and building to it’s heyday as a landmark, focal point and social gathering place for the community. Like many neighborhoods in Calgary, the Willow Ridge Community is in the midst of an exciting transition as new and younger families move in alongside original, long time and senior residents who continue to call the Community home.