The Globe and Mail

Calgary's boom has drenched the city in money, but yesterday's unveiling of EnCana Corp.'s planned $1-billion glass-and-steel office tower is unlike anything the city has ever seen, an instant icon that will stand at the forefront of 21st-century architecture.

Designed by London's Foster + Partners, the 59-storey crescent-shaped tower -- dubbed The Bow -- will stand 247 metres, the tallest building in Canada west of Toronto.

The aerodynamic design will reduce the amount of steel needed to support the structure and each floor will be constructed with extra space for air circulation, helping reduce the need for heating and air conditioning. Combined with the abundant use of natural light, that should cut energy use by about a third compared with a conventional building, according to EnCana.

The design, named after the river that flows past downtown, also includes three floors with open spaces and lush vegetation that Nigel Dancey of Foster + Partners calls "gardens in the sky." The curved building will give most office workers a window with a view, and many of them will be able to see the Rocky Mountains to the west.

"It's stunning. It's everything that we hoped it would be -- and more," said Jeremy Sturgess, principal at Calgary-based Sturgess Architecture, which serves as the project's master planner, the local eye for the designers at Foster + Partners.