Capella, Alberta

Introduction

Brookfield Residential enlisted Nadi Group to provide landscape architectural services for Capella Condos in Calgary, Alberta. Capella Condos resides in the West Block of University District—a neighborhood that highlights walkability, sustainability and livability in its mission. We worked closely with the building’s architects, McKinley Burkart, to create a design that complemented the architecture, prioritized the pedestrian experience and felt distinctive to the area.

Project Summary

At the start, we had three technical challenges: how to enhance the value of the condominium development, adhere to the City of Calgary and the University District’s regulations, and design a thriving landscape on top of a built structure. The client envisioned a landscape with no sod, focusing instead on shrubs and plants to create texture in the landscape and provide passive and active opportunities for residents. Even though the courtyard already existed, we provided the finishing touches, including giving ground floor condos more spacious terraces that look out onto the common space. We also designed a gentle and engaging partition between residents and the public to further ingratiate the landscape into the neighborhood’s larger network.

Our Role

The architects named the development Capella (a constellation). Our landscape design followed that theme, especially in the angular geometry of paving patterns which make up the common spaces. Our biggest challenge, however, was how to create a flourishing landscape on top of a built structure. We used a modular suspended pavement system that allowed for an increase in soil volume, providing an adequate growth volume to support medium sized trees.