The University of Calgary’s School of Architecture, Planning, and Landscape (SAPL) has found a new home in the former Nexen office tower in the city’s core.

Under a partnership between the city and U of C, the school will occupy 180,000 square feet of revitalized space in the 600,000-sf tower located at 801 Seventh Avenue S.W., which until this year had sat vacant for approximately six years after oil and gas firm Nexen had relocated.

The move represents a major expansion of the University of Calgary’s downtown campus and is part of the municipal government’s broader strategy to breathe new life into the downtown area. The repurposed tower will now house SAPL’s design studios, classrooms, research facilities, a robotic fabrication workshop, an exhibition gallery, and a community-facing design justice lab.

The building’s newly renovated atrium will also host public lectures and events centred on urban innovation and city building.

The project is supported by up to $9 million in funding from the city’s Downtown Post-Secondary Institution Incentive Program (PSI Program), which was launched to reduce office vacancy and boost economic activity, safety, and vibrancy in Calgary’s greater downtown area.

“The expansion of the University of Calgary’s downtown campus is a key part of revitalizing our city’s core,” said Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek.

With the relocation of SAPL, all 400 current graduate students and 800 new undergraduates—1,200 students in total—will now study and work in the heart of the city. Situated next to the Eighth Street C-Train station, adjacent to Century Gardens Park and new housing developments, the building is embedded within a growing cluster of city-led revitalization initiatives, including four office-to-residential conversion projects and streetscape improvements on Eighth Street S.W. and Eighth Avenue S.W.

“Through this first-of-its-kind investment, the University of Calgary will be able to further grow the local economy by educating the workforce of tomorrow,” said Ed McCauley, the U of C’s president and vice-chancellor.

The project also enhances the university’s presence at the west end of downtown, effectively creating a campus environment spanning both sides of Eighth Avenue S.W.

Pictured: The revitalized former Nexen building in downtown Calgary.

Rendering: Courtesy of the University of Calgary.

Join Canada’s leading CRE owners, investors, developers, brokers, financiers, and more at Connect Canada on May 28 at Malaparte in Toronto. Register now to catch forecasts from Canadian CRE leaders on market challenges and opportunities, insights into international investing with evolving market dynamics, the outlook for multifamily housing, and much more. www.ConnectCanada2025.com