The Francis Winspear Center Expansion Project transforms a surface parking lot into a concert hall and mixed use space with a underground parkade. This high profile project has been touted to be come the beating heart of City of Edmonton; bringing people from all backgrounds together to share in the common passion of art and music.

The Francis Winspear Center Expansion adds 83,560 sq ft to the existing Francis Winspear Center for music. The building is a state of the art performance center that has been design from an architectural and structural stand point to impress the visual senses. The curved structure, the cantilevered roof, and the slim structural profile adds to the aesthetic appeal. The main feature of this space, a +/- 500 seat N-1 class multi-purpose chamber performance space (the “Music Box”), that is structural isolated. This structural isolation avoids structural born vibration due to noise, foot traffic and road traffic to ensure that the performers and audience can fully be immersed in the performance; essentially building a “box” in a “box” structure.
With parking at a premium downtown, the facility adds an open air and below grade parking. This parking will replace the existing surface parking and will provide Winspear with a stable revenue stream.

A second major component of the Winspear Completion Project is the second entry to the music box off of Churchill square, the link through the existing Winspear building provides the general public as well as ticket holder an invitation to experience the new space and congregate on its patio and lobby. This will be an idea spot for pre- and post-event gatherings, as well as a spot for surrounding businesses to meet and enjoy the space during the work day.

Eng-Spire was instrumental in using LEAN techniques to lead and organize tools and processes to allow for this project to be successful with an International Design team, an extremely fast construction schedule.

For this specific project, Eng-Spire created a tool that could be utilized as a Quality Management tool for the consulting and construction team that organizes the teams information in a visual and user friendly manner. This facility will also have a childcare centre, and will also increase our City’s capacity for outreach programs and partnerships with other art organizations that have been restricted by space and resources.