Sidewalk Citizen Solarium, Calgary, Canada Building Development, Canadian Architecture
Sidewalk Citizen Solarium in Calgary
21 Aug 2022
Design: Studio North
Location: Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Photos: Hayden Pattullo and Damon Hayes Couture
Sidewalk Citizen Solarium, Canada
Calgary’s Central Memorial Park was developed during Calgary?s first major boom at the turn of the 20th century to show the confidence and optimism of a young city, which is a spirit that remains to this day.

In the century since its inception, following significant changes to the area, the elaborate gardens and geometric pathways of the formal Victorian gardens have lost their lustre. The ambition of the Sidewalk Citizen Solarium is to reinvigorate Central Memorial Park with a year-round dining and event space that connects the park to the city and the city to the park.
As a civic minded client, Sidewalk Citizen restaurant and bakery approached Studio North to design a space that would respect the reserved historic character of the park while playfully participating in the dynamic urban context.

The former restaurant ventures in that location failed due in part to a lack of seating, especially during the winter months when it became too cold to dine outdoors. Studio North looked to the park?s historic ?Garden Rooms? ? semi enclosed spaces for picnicking amongst the park?s greenery, as precedent for the lattice structure of the solarium.

Sidewalk Citizen Solarium in Calgary, Canada –...