(artsy concrete spaces)
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On my last day in Calgary, I learned that there was a large hospital being
relatively near to where I was staying. I'm a huge fan of large and unusual
construction sites, so I set off in freezing cold weather to check it out.
Accessing the site covertly in broad daylight was easy; the cold being my
biggest obstacle. After some creeping and sneaking, I walked into the site
and entered the building. From the outside, there hadn't been much to look
at- mostly just some elevator towers and exposed rebar. Only the first floor
had been built, they had just started the second before breaking for Christmas
holidays.
Once inside, it was a different story. The first floor was enclosed by tarps
and walls, and was wonderfully warm and incredibly huge and empty. It would
take several minutes to walk from one end to the other; the building is very
spread out. Even though it was only one level, it took me quite a while to
look around the whole place.
I started by trying to find a basement, but to my amazement, I could not find
one. I looked everywhere, in every stairwell and empty elevator shaft, but
to no avail. The closest thing to a basement i could find was a cool crawlspace
which extended under a small area near the front of the building. This was
filled with wooden support posts and plumbing hanging from the ceiling, and
did not lead anywhere.
After the crawlspace, I walked around some more and went into a couple stairwells.
The only stairs I could find were either under construction, or completely
nonexistent. I wandered around some more, taking photos here and there. I
must have walked across the hospital a dozen times, looking at random construction
things. I found the blueprints, I found lots of construction parts and equipment,
and I finally got bored with it. The site was just too new to be really interesting.
Oddly enough, I seem to get some of my best photos from construction sites-
many gratuitous, self-posed photos follow below.
On my way out, I spotted a quartet of manholes that I hadn't noticed before.
They were the big heavy kind; two had labels that said TEL, while the other
pair said POWER. I wanted to pop them and have a look inside, so I ran around
the construction site looking for a prybar. Eventually, I found a pickaxe
(which are ideal for popping manholes!) and popped some lids. The manholes
had been hiding nothing more than utility vaults, but I couldn't resist going
inside at least one of them. I grabbed a ladder lying nearby and dropped it
down- amazingly, it seemed just the right size and height for the vaults.
I climbed down, and it was indeed a brand-new, empty utility vault. I snapped
a pic and climbed back out, pulled the ladder out, then used the pickaxe to
drag the lids back into their collars.
Then I buttoned up my jacket, put on two hats, two pairs of gloves, and walked
back home. The hospital is still in the early stages of construction, and
I think it will become quite interesting to explore later when it grows some
walls.
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The little crawlspace.
Did I mention how big this place is?
A heater fires hot air into a stairwell.
Inside the stairwell, a complex arrangement of wooden forms is busy casting the stairs themselves.
A steel-frame stairwell under construction. I love this photo- it's nearly impossible to tell which way is the correct orientation. Rotate it, and see for yourself.
A forest of metal supports the ceiling.
Inside a future stairwell, there is only scaffolding.
Vast, empty concrete space.
Inside a utility vault.
Popping manholes inside buildings is fun.