Devon Tower

Devon Tower

Devon Tower is one of Calgary's skyline’s distinctive landmarks. The building serves as an office for various businesses in the city. With a restaurant and coffee shop inside, the public space of the property is a hub for visitors and employees alike.

In 2019, Oxford Properties Group ventured to reconstruct the building’s existing landscape and Foothills Landscaping was hired to tackle the challenge. The construction was based on the design provided by NORR Architects Engineers Planners. The project began in late May 2019 and was completed within six weeks.

About 2.000 new trees, shrubs, ornamental grass, and succulents were installed in this project.

To do this, selected overgrown and sickly trees and shrubs from the old landscape were removed and soil in each bed was amended. Mulch was scraped off and stored off-site for re-use as requested by the client. The irrigation system was also revamped to accommodate the new plant materials with their moisture requirement in mind and update the system with new parts. A putting green made of artificial turn was also installed for the golf enthusiasts. New patio areas made of concrete pavers were also installed along with furniture to create an inviting area for building users and the public to enjoy.

With the location being in one of the busiest parts of the downtown core and with the building and neighbouring offices being open during the construction period, logistics had been one of the main challenges of the project.

Safety barricades and crowd control signs were installed prior to our mobilization to ensure that the public would not accidentally wander into active work areas. Trained employees were also assigned to control traffic to ensure the safety of our workers and the public. Existing city trees that line up the block were also protected in compliance with the city’s tree protection plan.

To ensure that the environment was still conducive for office work during work hours and due to the noise bylaw imposed by the city, certain tasks had to be done by hand and tasks requiring loud machines had to be scheduled for certain times only, prompting us to establish shift work among our workers. The morning crew worked from 7 AM to 4 PM and had to do work with little to no noise. Our night crew worked from 4 PM to 10 PM to maximize their opportunity to move materials and aggregates with the help of mechanical aids. Certain areas on site had to be done manually as well due to the tiered design of the existing landscape. Utmost care was practiced for the duration of the project to prevent damaging any of the existing structures on site.

With our diligence and hard work, our company was able to complete the project in time for Canada Day.