Toronto, Calgary architects chosen to transform old planetarium into modern-art gallery

KPMB Architects of Toronto will join Calgary-based Gibbs Gage Architects for the project

Calgaryherald.com
Jan 16, 2019

A Toronto architecture firm that oversaw the design of Saskatoon’s Remai Modern, Toronto’s Gardiner Museum and the Ottawa Art Gallery has been selected to lead the transformation of the Centennial Planetarium into a modern-art gallery.

KPMB Architects of Toronto will join Calgary-based Gibbs Gage Architects for the project, which will see The City of Calgary and Contemporary Calgary partner in the gallery for modern and contemporary art. Contemporary Calgary issued a Request for Proposals for architectural design services in June of 2018.

KPMB partner Bruce Kuwabara will lead the design team.

In 2013, Contemporary Calgary -- an arts group comprised of the Institute of Modern and Contemporary Art, the Museum of Contemporary Art and the Art Gallery of Calgary -- set a plan to repurpose the vacant Centennial Planetarium. The building was the former home of the Calgary Science Centre.

The plan hit a snag in 2017 when city officials said it would only commit to a short-term lease with the group until it raised more than 90 per cent of the capital it needed.

The group held consultations with interested citizens and solicited public input on future plans and went back to the table with the city. A lease agreement was reached in 2018.

The gallery is scheduled to open in 2019.