News of the Radio Block. See above for more regarding 1st Street SW.
Comrade makes noise in renovated Radio Block
David Parker
Calgary Herald
Friday, April 27, 2007
Last December I was pleased to be able to report on the number of changes taking place along 1st Street S.W. as new developments were changing its identity and some of the less desirable businesses leaving the wide walking boulevard.
O'Connors and Formans fashion stores are high-class retailers, and the Colors by Batistella, Chocolate, Union Square and the proposed retail/office complex around Hotel Arts developments will make the street so much more attractive and busier.
I recently took a tour of the Radio Block, located on the west side of the street to the corner of 13th Avenue, and was delighted to see that it is being transformed into another 1st Street gem.
Cherry's Lounge and Castle Pub on the ground floor is closed and under renovation to convert it into an upscale establishment called Jameson's Pub.
The other entrance on the street will form the reception area for Comrade Agency that has already moved into the whole of the second floor. The space used to be called Tasmanian Ballroom and I understand it was rather dark and sinister. But when the ceiling was stripped away a huge 60 foot-long skylight was uncovered that has helped create what must be a very pleasant place for creative people to spend their working day.
Comrade was founded by Thelton McMillian who moved to Calgary from San Francisco with KPMG Consulting Group. He had previously been vice president and managing director of Organic, running its San Francisco office that boasted accounts like Blockbuster and Starbucks. In Calgary he made the move to Critical Mass and served for a time as president and CEO before striking out on his own.
His Canadian wife Christy is the client partner of Comrade and Ottawa-born Darren Murata also moved up from San Francisco to become the creative partner. It currently has a staff of 13 in Calgary plus one in a Los Angeles satellite office.
International clients already make up a good portion of the firm's workload. Entering the office I was met with a huge, made-in-Calgary model submarine called Silent Hunter IV that was used in a campaign for Ubisoft, a Paris-based video game developer and publisher. Comrade is also working on web design, marketing, public relations, and media training for Simple Floors, a California company that sells hardwood floors direct to customer.
Locally it was responsible for the cheeky campaign for Shift Networks that focused on the frustration of business phone users with their providers. And I saw some of the work underway for Solara, a major resort condo hotel planned for Canmore.
McMillian has a great team of designers on staff but when he made the decision to lease 6,284 square feet in the Radio Block that was in pretty bad shape, he didn't hesitate in getting expert interiors advice in the design of its spaces. The task was handed to Guy and Heide Painchaud of Habitar, a design studio with an office in Bridgeland as well as Los Angeles where the talented couple moved from.
The result is quite amazing. The amount of light from the skylight and windows show off the Herman Miller furniture and partitions, the fireplace lounge, interior brick and original woodwork. The ground floor entrance area is also large enough to accommodate a couple more offices as well as staff showers and bicycle stands.
Comrade will make a fine neighbour to the other new developments that are helping to regenerate one of Calgary's old pedestrian malls.
- - -Statistics: Posted by newsposter — Sun Apr 29, 2007 10:52 am
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