The Nines

The Nines project is a mixed-use development Gravity designed for OPUS at the intersection of Elbow Drive and Southland Drive in Calgary’s Southwood community (just south of Haysboro). This six-storey project features 13,500 sqft of retail space facing the streets and 85 apartments above. We designed the retail space to be subdividable into three bays. The structure of the commercial ground level is concrete while the residential levels above are wood-framed. The primary cladding of this development is textured glass-fibre-reinforced concrete panels set against the warmth of wood-toned metal siding.

This development is situated on a largely vacant lot beside the Southwood branch of the Calgary Public Library. Homes on the second to sixth-floor range in size from 470 to 1300 sqft and are available in one, two and three bedroom configurations. Every unit has a private balcony expressed as an egg-crate grid on the building facade. For the three-bedroom units, a larger balcony is separated into two zones with dual access from both the primary bedroom and the living room. Parking for this development is provided by a single level of underground parking, some surface parking, and secure bike storage on the main floor for residents. There are rooftop amenity spaces for both commercial and residential tenants.

One of the project challenges was burying an underground parkade within the limited depth available given the topographical slope from one corner of the site to the other. The goal was to achieve barrier free access from both streets and a welcoming streetscape for the main entry and the retail spaces along the public streets. We achieved barrier-free access along both Elbow Drive by sloping the vehicle access down from the west lane before starting the underground ramp, keeping the garage shallow and the doors flush with the street.

Construction wrapped in July 2026, bringing the project to completion.

To learn more about this development, please visit OPUS’ website.

Data

  
      Number of Units
      85
    
      Total Commercial Floor Area
      12010 SF
    
      Total Residential Floor Area
      72678 SF
    
      Efficiency
      85%
    
      FSR/FAR
      2.5
    
      UPH
      268.14
    
      On Site Parking
      100

Developer: OPUS
Architecture: Gravity Architecture
Renderings: Gravity Architecture
Photography: Bryce Baker
Civil: Richview Engineering
Landscape: SMM
Geotechnical: Beairsto & Associates
Structural: MWS Engineering Inc.
Mechanical/Plumbing: Reinbold Engineering Group
Electrical: Designcore Engineering Ltd.
Envelope: Sense Engineering
Interior Design: Jerilyn Wright + Associates

Location

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