Heritage Character Statement
The Building Is Designed In The International Style With Interlocking 'cube'-Like Vertical Towers Set On A Strongly Expressed Horizontal Podium. The Structure Is Clad In A Curtain Wall System Of Metal Panels And Glazing Creating A Rhythmic Rectangular Grid. The Interior Lobby Features Two Opposing Banks Of Elevators, An Open Staircase, Mail Chute, And, Terrazzo Flooring. The Building Housed The Headquarters For The Alberta Wheat Pool; A Farmers' Cooperative Grain Organization And A Significant Symbol Of The Provincial Agricultural Industry.
Summary History
The Former Alberta Wheat Pool Building, Known As Epcor Place Since 2001, Is An Eight-Storey Office Block In Calgary's Downtown Commercial Core. It Was Built In 1958-1959 As The First Purpose-Built Headquarters Of The Alberta Wheat Pool (Awp), A Significant Farmers' Cooperative Organization. The Awp Remained The Building's Primary Occupant Until 2001, Although It Was Renamed Agricore In 1998 (Following A Merger With Manitoba Pool Elevators) And Agricore United In 2001 (Following A Merger With United Grain Growers, Which Dated Back To 1917).
The Awp Was One Of The Largest Grain-Handling Cooperatives In The Country, Operating Country Grain Elevators In Alberta And Northeastern British Columbia, And Offering Its Members Collective Bargaining With Grain Buyers. The Awp Also Offered Its Members Services Ranging From Merchandising And Sales To Financing And Agricultural Research. From Its Inception In 1923 Under Founding President Henry Wise Wood, The Awp Occupied Rented Space In The Lougheed Building (604 - 1 Street S.w.). The Organization's Move To Its Own, Purpose-Built Building Was A Result Of The Organization's Growth, As Well As A General Post-War Pattern Of Movement From Aging Office Blocks To Modern Office Towers. In 1957, The Awp Decided To Build Its Own Headquarters And Engaged The Architectural Firm Of Clayton, Bond And Mogridge. The Foundation Company Of Canada Received The Building Contract, And Construction Began In June 1958. The Interior Designer Was Business Interiors Limited, A Firm Established By Architect Allan W. Mogridge Of Clayton, Bond And Mogridge. The First Phase Of The Building, Which Was Designed To Accommodate Future Expansion, Cost $2,500,000.
The Elevator Tower Is Symbolic Of The Prairie Grain Elevator. The Office Block Is Functional Simplicity And Encloses The Core Of The Industry. The Exterior Tile Pattern Represents Shimmering Wheat Fields And Rests Upon The Solid Marble Base.
The Herald Predicted That The Most Controversial Element Would Be The Sculpted Cork Mural Placed Prominently In The Lobby Entrance. Artist Robert D. Oldrich Conceived The Mural To Depict Alberta's Past, Present And Future.
The Original Building's Design Reflects The International Style, And Its Massing Represents Interlocking 'cube-Like' Vertical Towers Resting On An Horizontal Podium. This Massing Is Symbolic Of The Grain Elevator On The Prairie Landscape. The Towers Were Finished In Mosaic Tiles; Blue Tile Representing The Sky, And, Brown And Beige Tiles Representing The Prairie Landscape. The Building Is Constructed With A Reinforced Concrete Structure, And Clad In A Curtain Wall System Of Glazing And Insulated Steel Panels Finished With Mosaic Tile. The Lobby Originally Featured A Carved Cork Mural.
Earn 10 points!
Photo: Image from albertaonrecord.ca (http://www.albertaonrecord.ca/uploads/r/glenbow-archives/6/9/69e7a8767152e16b5ffe50717775b4173ecd309dbb786f4f3a28dfa79ae22abe/na-5654-101_141.jpg)