Underpasses + Overpasses

The redesign considers conditions of safety, cleanliness, lighting, egress, accessibility, and materials to enhance the overall experience traveling through the underpass. Founded on the idea of reclaiming city infrastructure as a ‘space for conversation’, an integrated public art and urban design strategy repositions the site as a better connected street, ready to be explored.

The 1st Street SW Underpass engages a very particular and poetic moment in Calgary’s urban landscape. Pedestrians moving through the underpass leave one urban realm to re-emerge in a new and different condition. The underpass is thus a moment of transition: a gateway between the downtown core to the North and the historic Beltline district to the South.