Shell Centre
Alberta, Canada
Exterior only
Visible from the street; the inside is private.
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Shell Centre was a 33-storey, 140-metre office tower completed in 1977 in Calgary, Alberta, designed by Olympia and York Developments. Announced in 1975 as a $35-million speculative project on the site of the former Caravan Hotel, the building secured Shell Oil as its primary tenant, consolidating the company's 1,000 Calgary employees. The modern structure employed a distinctive figure-eight plan that created eight corner offices and featured a recessed street-level lobby accessed through supportive pillars. Its construction consumed 34,000 cubic yards of concrete and 4,700 tons of steel, with an exterior clad in 1.25-inch Italian granite slabs. At completion, Shell Centre ranked as Calgary's fourth tallest building. The Calgary Herald recognized it as a watershed moment for corporate architecture in the city, marking a departure from austere tower designs toward the more elaborate marble and granite facades then common in American urban centres. The building was renamed 400 4th Avenue in 2024 after Shell Canada relocated to the Bow building.
Movement
- Built
- Type
- skyscraper
- Height
- 140 m
- Place
- Alberta, Canada
This building on
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Location