Custom curtain wall at EnCana office tower

The basics: The new headquarters of EnCana Corp., Calgary, Alberta, one of the largest natural gas producers of North America, will be an 810-foot, 58-story office tower. Slated to be completed in 2011, "The Bow" tower will be the tallest in western Canada, according to officials from Oldcastle Glass, Santa Monica, Calif. About 3,300 EnCana employees will relocate from five different downtown sites to occupy the building.

The players: Owner, EnCana; signature architect, Foster and Partners, London; project architects, Zeidler Partnership, Calgary; general contractor, Ledcor Construction, Vancouver, British Columbia; glass and curtain wall supplier, Oldcastle Glass.

The glass and systems: 540,000 square feet of curtain wall in 7,920 curtain wall frames. A custom curtain wall diagrid of aluminum panels that form a series of starbursts at every third floor.

Image by Foster + Partners, Zeidler Partnership