Designed to be a highly performative, net-zero carbon project, the MacKimmie Tower and Hunter Student Commons, otherwise known as MacKimmie Complex at the University of Calgary, is featured on the February cover of Canadian Architect Magazine.

Graham Livesey, professor in the School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape at the University of Calgary writes on the double-skin facades used to achieve deep energy savings in the MacKimmie Complex. By using passive climate techniques such as natural ventilation, thermal mass, heat recovery and solar exposure, the project achieved a CaGBC Zero Carbon Design Certification in 2020 and supports the university’s ambitious sustainability goals to be net-zero by 2050.

“All of this effort was put towards an impressive result,” writes Livesey. “The properties of glass—reflectivity, transparency, and durability—allowed the designers to achieve an overall crystalline effect, enhanced by the overall shaping of the scheme. The two new buildings at the University of Calgary are highly precise, but also transform according to the time of day, the weather, and the angle from which they are viewed. The result is a compelling piece of design that has dramatically enhanced the intensity of activity on the campus.”

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