The Wilson’s Arch Building Calgary

The Wilson’s Arch Building in Northeast Calgary is a curious structure and straight out of the quirky ’60s. Architecturally there was lots of innovative stuff going on at the time and this one example of the creative ideas being offered. With a curved roof supported by revolutionary (for the time) wood “Glulam” laminate beams, this allowed for vast open areas within a building and sans any support columns. This was advantageous in many applications and we’ll chat about that soon.

The city says the structure dates from 1965, however an aerial photo dated the following year, in municipal archives, shows it still under construction, so make of it what you will. The building sits in Franklin Industrial and noted as one of the earliest structures here. At the time this was at the far eastern edge of Calgary, and a few years earlier the land farm pasture, but today is deep within the city. Cowtown has grown a lot since then (population of 320k then vs 1.4m today).

The building is visually a stand out among it neighbours and most other structures around here are typical blocky warehouse type affairs. It’s the only character building around, but most firm aren’t concerned with the look of such utility structures and just want function. That’s understandable, but at the same time, something unique and distinct can be good for the image.

Constructed for the manufacturer of the beams, Wilson’s Arch Buildings Ltd, it was made from and a showcase for this firm’s products. The sign support out front (now minus signage) is made of the same beams and allowed one an up close look of their construction.

There’s a spacious storage yard behind and beside the structure – those beams took a up a lot of space. Later on and after Wilson’s closed (mid-1970s) a second similar firm took over the property. After that, the building and yard were well put to use by a number of lumber wholesalers. In function and location, near a busy main road, made it perfect for such businesses.

In more recent times, the building was or is (data’s a bit sketchy) used as a studio for film work and it appears most of the yard is used to store vehicles for a nearby auto auction.

Support arches are pin connected to concrete anchor-blocks on the exterior of the building. These arches allowed for a vast open space inside with which to construct and assemble the laminate beams. Lots of buildings could benefit from such unobstructed interiors – retail stores, factories, sport venues, farm buildings – and so this was a big selling point.

The front of the structure, seen in our photos, functioned as office space and the rest devoted to manufacturing.

We’re curious what other buildings were made using Wilson’s beams and did some searching but not much came up. Safeway used a lot of these style beams in their buildings of the time (the famous Safeway “Marina” Roof), but did this firm supply some of these or was it even within their capabilities? Those beams were huge and not easy to work on we bet. Old phone book ads show they made both curved and straight beams for use by any construction firm, or complete prefab buildings made using same.

Beams were made from smaller dimensional lumber, finger joined end to end in strips, then glue together under pressure. The adhesive used is water proof and allows for outdoor use. These beams have an excellent strength to weight ratio, and are adaptable to just about any use.

A later phone book entry shows they made Quonset type structures for use at farms and by industry. By this point the firm had changed its name to Wilson Arches Ltd, but otherwise nothing else changed. Wilson, we presume, must have been the name of someone big associated with the company.

Wilson’s became Nelwood in the mid-1970s, but this new firm seems to otherwise have functioned the same and even the phone book ads were exact duplicates. Nelwood lasted until about ’83 and then those lumber firms spoken of earlier (Mc Ilveen Lumber then later Prairie Pacific Lumber) took over.

The Wilson’s Arch Building was photographed on an amazing spring evening and those skies sure were nice. We love the peace and quite that comes with twilight, and of course the nice soft light. As usual, we sneaked the BIGDoer-mobile into a photo, but it’s well in the background this time and not easy to spot. Can you see it?

Know more (new windows): Glulam Wood Laminate Beams and 1960s Architecture.

Stop by often for new and interesting content posted regularly.

They’re saying…

”Love history and local history best. You bring to life that which has been forgotten…” Richard O’Connor.

More architecture of the era…
Zigzag & Wave Roofs Calgary (Part 1) and Wave & Zigzag Roofs Calgary (Part 2).
Mayland Heights School.
Hyperbolic Paraboloid.

If you wish more information on what’s seen here, don’t hesitate to: contact us!

Date of Adventure: April, 2022.
Location(s): Calgary, AB.
Article references and thanks: City of Calgary, Heritage Calgary, plus old phone books at the Calgary Public Library and the Medicine Hat & District Genealogical Society.

The Wilson’s Arch Building Calgary.

Straight out of the funky ’60s.

It was a revolutionary design for the time.

The sign was made from beams similar to those in the building.

Each arch rests on external concrete anchors.