Welcome New Team Members!

Berry Architecture has expanded again! We have welcomed two new team members since our last newsletter—Tyleena Robertson is an Interior Designer who joined the team on January 20th, and Riley Moore is an Architectural Technologist (AIBC) who joined us on February 3rd. Tyleena received a Bachelor of Applied Interior Design Degree from Mount Royal University in Calgary and has 13 years of experience working as an Interior Designer. Riley has a Diploma in Architectural and Engineering Technology from Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops and has four years experience as an Architectural Technologist. Tyleena is based in our Red Deer office and Riley is based in Kelowna. Of course, they will be working on projects in all our regions since we operate as one big team. We are so happy to have them on board! A warm welcome to you both.

Project Completion - Ascent South Multi-family

Ascent South is the first phase of a new multi-family housing project in Kelowna, BC. This phase consists of two five-storey buildings which provide 136 residential units. The units are comprised of 16 bachelor suites, 32 one-bedroom, 67 two-bedroom, and 21 three-bedroom units. There is underground parking under each building and behind the waterfall units. Amenity spaces include a stand-alone community building.

All buildings are designed to meet BC Energy Code Step 4 requirements and to obtain a Net Zero standard. This landmark project was designed for Highstreet Ventures as part of their rental and sales units. We are so pleased to be working with Highstreet to provide much-needed housing for this community. The project is now ready for occupancy. Ascent North, with 160 units, is currently under construction.

RAIC Life Cycle Assessment Seminar

On February 5th, all four of our Registered Architects gathered in Calgary to attend a seminar on Life Cycle Assessments (LCA). Isaac, George, Carlos, and Suman attended this all-day seminar put on by the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) at the University of Calgary. An LCA is a great tool that helps to determine the true costs associated with a building—capital, operational, environmental, carbon use—over its lifespan. This enables our clients to make informed decisions about their investments and ongoing operational costs. It was also a good opportunity for our registered architects to get together and touch base in a central location. Reach out to our team to see how an LCA can benefit your next project.

Here are some things we've been up to:

On January 28th, Tracy W., Tracey E., Ray, Angela, Alvin, and Shylia attended the Red Deer Chamber’s Business After Hours event at the Baymont Inn. It was a lucky day since Tracy W. won a door prize of wine glasses presented by Tammy Jensen from Royal Lepage Realty!

On February 6th, Angela attended the Red Deer Construction Association’s “Capital Projects Presentation, 2025,” which provided an overview of upcoming 2025 projects and timelines from the City of Red Deer, County of Red Deer, City of Lacombe, Town of Sylvan Lake, Town of Blackfalds, and Alberta Infrastructure. This type of event is a great way for RDCA members to keep abreast of construction opportunities in Central Alberta.

Noemie and Danielle attended the Ktunaxa Nation Council (KNC) Open House on February 11th to learn about the meaningful work being done by KNC staff. They also took a tour of the KNC building which was originally built in 1909 as the Central School building in Cranbrook. Noemie won a door prize of a thermos and Ktunaxa Nation hat and sweater!

Raymond and Isaac attended the State of the City, Mayor’s Luncheon on February 12th in Red Deer. Over 200 people came out for the event. Mayor Ken Johnston spoke optimistically about the future of Red Deer, saying “Red Deer is moving toward its full potential.” The event was co-hosted by BILD Central Alberta, the Red Deer Construction Association, and the Red Deer Chamber of Commerce.

For Valentine’s Day, we had a lovely snack time in the Red Deer office. We try to have a breakfast, snack, or lunch at least once a month as team get-together time. Thank you, Shylia, for putting this together!

Did you know?

There is a Louvre Museum in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

The Louvre Abu Dhabi was designed by French Architect, Jean Nouvel, and completed in 2017. The museum’s roof is truly one of a kind. Nouvel covered the white cubes that house the galleries with a massive steel dome (weighing 7,000 tons) whose latticed patterns evoke the geometries of Islamic art. The result is a kaleidoscope of patterns as you navigate the museum, turning the museum itself into an ever-changing work of art.

Source: lonelyplanet.com/articles/amazing architecture