Designs for a new arts center servicing the disabled community in Western Canada have been unveiled this week as part of a dynamic rebrand that will give the former Indefinite Arts Center in Calgary a much-needed new home. 

Featuring an art gallery, cafe, performance venues, and outdoor gathering spaces, the National accessArts Centre (NaAC) will repurpose an old Scouts Canada building thanks to a $12 million redevelopment plan designed by DIALOG.

According to NaAC’s CEO Jung-Suk Ryu: “Every city has a performing arts centre, a museum, or an art gallery — but Calgary will be the only city with infrastructure dedicated to the needs and talents of artists living with disabilities. Now, Calgary will truly become the national capital of this important, much-celebrated element of our arts and culture sector.”

DIALOG is working with the group to develop an addition to the existing structure, which will be renovated by the local firm Iwanski Architecture thanks to a $2.5 million grant from the city. Its new interior represents a rejection of the “conventional distribution of program types” in favor of a more open plan that allows for intuitive wayfinding and improved connectivity.

A multidisciplinary studio space makes up the heart of the building that will also feature a protected roof terrace, open office administration space for the 46-year-old organization, and a lower terrace that extends the building into an existing plaza ideal for small-scale public gatherings.

The NaAC has been left afloat since a 2018 snowstorm collapsed the roof of its former Fairview Arena home and is currently seeking to expand on a multimillion-dollar fundraising effort that would further enhance the organization’s capabilities through public infrastructure grants like Canada’s Green and Inclusive Community Buildings program.