Olympic Plaza

 

MPFP was commissioned to design the urban park and plaza space to host the 1988 Winter Olympic medal awards ceremony, and to ultimately serve as a timeless, social epicenter for Calgary after the Olympics.

The final design extended the existing A Street Mall to Calgary’s Municipal Building, creating vast opportunities for a variety of outdoor, recreational and cultural activities to take place. Defining the plaza is a glass and steel arcade for craft shows, food vendors and dining, and other activities that require environmental control. Water features mask the service facilities, which are partially below grade bathrooms, and the plantings are indigenous to the area and accommodate the seasonal climate.

The space has become the ‘Rockefeller Center’ of Calgary; parades end at the plaza and the annual New Years Eve celebration is orchestrated within its open spaces.