Quarters Hotel

Location: Edmonton, AB
Year: 2018
Status: Completed
Size: 21,000 m² / 226,000 ft²

The Quarters Hotel is a mixed-use development that breathes new life into a long-neglected but important part of downtown. The project is centered within The Quarters - a 40 hectare site of urban intensification for an eventual population of 20,000 people.

The Quarters Hotel design was a response to the bold aspiration of this redevelopment plan, as well as the unique location of the site. This angular intersection is the south gateway to the new Armature boulevard. At the pedestrian scale, the podium of the building respects the scale and variety of surrounding historic buildings, without overtly mimicking them. Traffic along the Armature is minimized, with an emphasis on the pedestrian realm. Hotel functions on the 2nd level open up as much of the ground floor for future commercial uses that serve the street and the forthcoming LRT stop to the north, anticipating a lively neighborhood built out around it. A restaurant terrace on the second level projects over the entry and provides views to the plaza and river valley below.

At a larger urban scale, the design is not an anonymous mass. Parts of the façade are variegated to prevent its length from appearing monotonous. The diagonal folds in the façade are meant to be seen from a distance as well as from below. Seen from downtown, the tilted form of the façade evokes a sense of “shear” or ”thrust” from the new Armature boulevard running alongside it.