Elveden Centre is a three-tower office building located at 717 7th Avenue Southwest in
Calgary, Alberta. Designed by Alberta architectural firm
Rule Wynn and Rule and built in three phases between 1959 and 1964, it is one of Calgary's best examples of
International-style architecture.
History and design
During the boom following the discovery of
Leduc No. 1 on 13 February 1947, the area of downtown Calgary west of 4th Street saw the construction of many new office buildings intended to house the oil companies that had moved into the city. These buildings included the
Barron Building
The Barron Building is an eleven-storey office tower located at 610 8th Avenue Southwest in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Designed by architect Jack Cawston and built between 1949 and 1951, it is one of Canada's foremost examples of Art Moderne-style ...
(1947),
Petro Chemical Building
Petro is a masculine given name, a surname and an Ancient Roman cognomen. It may refer to:
Given name
* Petro Balabuyev (1931-2007), Ukrainian airplane designer, engineer and professor, lead designer of many Antonov airplanes
* Petro Doroshenko ...
(1956),
Triad Oil Building
Triad or triade may refer to:
* a group of three
Businesses and organisations
* Triad (American fraternities), certain historic groupings of seminal college fraternities in North America
* Triad (organized crime), a Chinese transnational org ...
(1956),
Britannia Building
Britannia () is the national personification of Britain as a helmeted female warrior holding a trident and shield. An image first used in classical antiquity, the Latin ''Britannia'' was the name variously applied to the British Isles, Great ...
(1958),
Petro-Fina Building (1959), and
Dome Oil Building
A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...
(1959).
Elveden was commissioned by British Pacific Building, a company owned by the
Guinness family. The family at that time had interests in the Calgary companies Duke Drilling Investment Company and Seabridge Investments. Albertan architectural firm Rule Wynn and Rule was hired for the project. Construction, done by the Commonwealth Construction Company, began in 1959. Steel was provided by the
Dominion Bridge Company. In order for the project to commence, the City of Calgary had to amend a restriction that limited buildings to twelve stories.
The first and central tower, Elveden House, was built between 1959 and 1960. It is named after the Guinness's estate in Suffolk, which itself is named after half of
Benjamin Guinness's peer, Viscount Elveden. The second tower, Iveagh House, on the east side, was built between 1960 and 1962 and is named after the other half of Benjamin Guinness's peer, the Earl of Iveagh. The third tower, Guinness House, on the west side, was built between 1962 and 1964 and is named after the Guinness family.
The complex has of office space, with in the main tower.
In 2005, the Calgary Heritage Authority added Elveden House to its list as a Category A (top priority) site.
References
Buildings and structures in Calgary
Buildings and structures completed in 1964
Modernist architecture in Canada
Historic buildings in Calgary
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