The Plus 15 or +15 is a

skyway A skyway, skybridge, skywalk, or sky walkway is an elevated type of pedway connecting two or more buildings in an urban area, or connecting elevated points within mountainous recreational zones. Urban skyways very often take the form of Cover ...

network in

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. It is the world's most extensive pedestrian skywalk system, with a total length of 16 kilometres (10 miles) and 86 bridges connecting 130 buildings, as of 2022. Calgary often has severe winters and the walkways allow people to get around the city's

downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in American and Canadian English to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ( ...

more quickly and comfortably. The busiest parts of the network saw over 20,000 pedestrians per day in a 2018 count. The system is so named because the skywalks are approximately 15 feet (approximately 4.5 metres) above street level. Some Plus 15 skywalks are multi-level, with higher levels being referred to as Plus 30s and Plus 45s.

History

The system was conceived and designed by architect Harold Hanen, who worked for the Calgary Planning Department from 1966 to 1969. This development earned him the 1970

Vincent Massey Charles Vincent Massey (February 20, 1887December 30, 1967) was a Canadian diplomat and statesman who served as the 18th governor general of Canada from 1952 to 1959. Massey was the first governor general of Canada who was born in Canada. Mas ...

Award for Merit in Urban Planning. Opening in 1970, the Plus 15 network has expanded to include 86 enclosed bridges connecting 130 downtown Calgary buildings. The central core of the system is a series of enclosed shopping centres, and the city's flagship

department stores A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store under one roof, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made ...

. New developments were required to connect to the walkway system; in exchange for this, they were offered more floorspace (the "bonus density"). When not physically able to connect to nearby buildings, developers contribute to the "Plus 15 Fund", managed by the city, used to finance other missing connections. In 1985, graphic designer Lance Wyman created a wayfinding system featuring a person wearing a cowboy hat. In 2021, the city chose to rebrand the signs.

Impact

Critics argue that the system has led to a decline in street life in the Downtown Commercial Core,"Plus 15 User Survey", a City of Calgary study published in 1998 while proponents cite extensive use of the system, enhancing the flow of human traffic to businesses downtown, especially in the winter. In 1998, the city began to re-evaluate the system. Part of the goal of these studies was reinvigorating decreased daytime street life on some downtown streets. The possibility of limiting expansion to encourage more pedestrian street traffic was raised. Critics continue to claim the system is detrimental to culture and economic activity at ground level, however proponents argue that its heavy use points to how useful and convenient it is in cold weather. City planning by-laws now confer tax credits to owners who connect new buildings to the system.

List of connected buildings

*333 5th Avenue *444 7th Avenue *505 3rd Street *550 5th Street *606 4th Street *635 8th Avenue *707 5th Street

Manulife Manulife Financial Corporation (French language, French: Financière Manuvie) is a Canadian multinational insurance company and financial services provider headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. The company operates in Canada and Asia as "Manulife" ...

*715 5th Avenue *736 6th Avenue *840 7th Avenue *Amec Place * Alberta Energy Utilities Board *Altius Centre *Andrew Davison Building *Aquitaine Tower *Atrium I *Atrium II *Bank of Canada *Bankers Court *

Bankers Hall Bankers Hall is a building complex located in downtown Calgary, Alberta, which includes twin 52-storey office towers (197 metres high), designed by the architectural firm Cohos Evamy in postmodern architectural style. The first building, known ...

*Banker's Hall Parkade *Bantrel Tower *Bow Parkade * Bow Valley College * Bow Valley Square *420FOURTH (formerly BP Centre) *

Brookfield Place (Calgary) Brookfield Place is a skyscraper located in Downtown Calgary, downtown Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The complex is home to Brookfield Place East, a 56-storey office tower, which, upon its completion in 2017, became the List of tallest buildings in ...

Calgary Board of Education Calgary School District No. 19 or the Calgary Board of Education (CBE) is the public school board in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. As a public system, the CBE is required to accept any students who meet age and residency requirements, regardless of ...

*Calgary House *Calgary Marriott Hotel *Calgary Place *

Calgary Tower The Calgary Tower is a free-standing observation tower in the Downtown Calgary, downtown core of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Originally called the Husky Tower, it was conceived as a joint venture between Marathon Realty Company Limited and Husky ...

*Canada Place *Canadian Fina Building * Canterra Tower *Carter House *Centennial Parkade * Centennial Place *Centre Four *Century Park Place *Chamber of Commerce *Chevron Plaza *City Centre Parkade *City Hall * City/Omni Building *Convention Centre North *Convention Centre South * Core Shopping Centre (Formerly TD Square/Calgary Eaton Centre) *Daon Building *Delta Bow Valley Inn * Devonian Gardens * Dome Tower *Dominion Centre *Eau Claire Place II *

Eighth Avenue Place Eighth Avenue Place is a twin-tower building complex located in downtown Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The complex includes a 49-storey East tower, 40-storey West office tower, and a three-storey indoor urban park. The complex is housed on the ...

Elveden Centre Elveden Centre is a three-tower office building located at 717 7th Avenue Southwest in Calgary, Calgary, Alberta. Designed by Alberta architectural firm Rule Wynn and Rule and built in three phases between 1959 and 1964, it is one of Calgary's best ...

*Emerson Centre *Encana Place *Encor Place *Epcore Centre *Ernst and Young Tower *

Fairmont Palliser Hotel The Fairmont Palliser, formerly known as the Palliser Hotel, is a hotel of the Canada-based Fairmont Hotels and Resorts chain. The historic hotel (1914) is located in downtown Calgary, Alberta, at 133 9 Avenue SW adjacent to the Calgary Tower an ...

*Fifth and Fifth * Fifth Avenue Place *First Alberta Place *First Canadian Centre *Fourth and Fourth *Fracmaster Tower *

Glenbow Museum The Glenbow Museum is an art and history local museum, regional museum in the city of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The museum focuses on Western Canada, Western Canadian history and culture, including Indigenous perspectives. The Glenbow was establ ...

*Gulf Canada Square *Hanover Place *Harry Hayes Government of Canada *Hawthorn Hotel and Suites *Hollinsworth Building *

Holt Renfrew Holt, Renfrew & Co., Limited (Trade name, doing business as Holt Renfrew and Colloquialism, colloquially Holt's) is a Economy of Canada, Canadian luxury department store chain founded in 1837 by William S. Henderson. The original William Ashton ...

Department Store * Home Oil Tower *Hyatt Regency Hotel *Intact Place *International Hotel *Iveagh House *J.J. Bowen Building * Jamieson Place *Lancaster Building *Life Plaza *Livingston Place *London House *Mobil Tower *Monenco Place *Municipal Building * Nexen Building *Northland Building *Northland Place *Palliser South * Palliser Square *Panarctic Centre *Pertogen Building *Petex Building *Petroleum Building *Place 800 *Old Police Headquarters Building *Provincial Court *Ramada Hotel *Rocky Mountain Court *Rocky Mountain Plaza *Roslyn Building *Royal Bank *Sandman Inn *Sanjel Building *Scotia Bank Tower * Scotia Centre *Selkirk House *Shell Centre *Sheraton Suites *St. Regis Hotel *Standard Life *Stock Exchange Tower * Suncor Energy Centre *

Sun Life Plaza The Ampersand is a high-rise office complex in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It consists of three identical skyscrapers, designated as North, West and East Tower, and connected by the lobby at ground level and by a shopping gallery at Plus 15 level. ...

* TD Canada Trust Tower *TELUS House Calgary * The Bay Department Store * The Bow * TC Energy Tower (formerly TransCanada Tower) *Trimac House *Watermark Tower *

Western Canadian Place Western Canadian Place is an office tower complex located in the downtown core of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It consists of two buildings, the taller North Tower and the shorter South Tower. It was designed by the architectural firm, Cohos Evamy ...

*Western Union *Westin Hotel *Workers Compensation Board Office *YWCA Building List fro
plus15.ca

In popular culture

The Plus 15 is one of the central plot elements in the 2000 film '' Waydowntown'', directed by Gary Burns.

References

External links

City of Calgary PDF Map

Plus 15 Map with iPhone app

Plus 15 Ninja - Directions, Meetups & Directory
{{DEFAULTSORT:Plus15 Buildings and structures completed in 1970 Buildings and structures in Calgary Modernist architecture in Canada Pedways in Canada Skyways Transport in Calgary Tourist attractions in Calgary 1970 establishments in Alberta