If you want to turn the public’s taste sour, place an object in an off-putting light, or generally transform the highly popular into the totally passé, label it as trendy. Nobody knows for sure when the word became akin to the four-letter variety, but there’s no denying that it has. Calling something “trendy” is the kiss of death consumerally speaking; by the time you hear of a new trend, chances are good it’s already on its way down – just think of all those gaud-awful, rainbow coloured Crocs lining the storage rooms of overzealous retailers across the city.

Still, trends are inevitable. They affect everything from what we wear to how we live, and the condo market is no exception. Lifestyles evolve over time, and architects pay close attention to the trends that are attracting buyers when designing new developments.

“There’s definitely a trend toward higher density,” says Bruce McKenzie, Principal at Poon McKenzie Architects. “We’re seeing a lot more high-rise developments and movement away from villa or bungalow styles, particularly midtown. We’re working on projects now that are up to 75 stories tall. That’s a huge shift, even from as recently as five years ago. Calgarians have historically been anti-height when it comes to development, but that’s changing. The new attitude toward high-rise development itself is tied up in a variety of different market trends.”

One factor that has made high-rise development more acceptable to more people is basic land availability close to downtown. “More and more buyers want to live near the city centre, and the only way to accommodate the demand is to build up rather than out,” explains McKenzie. “There simply isn’t the space for extensive brownstone style buildings, unless the developer knocks down an existing property, which drives the cost way up for buyers. Most buyers in this market are first timers looking to get in affordably.”

If you’re building 75 stories up, it goes to reason that views will come into play. We’re blessed to be on the doorstep of some of the most spectacular scenery anywhere; if you can live comfortably close to downtown with the Rocky Mountains as your backdrop, you really have the best of both worlds. “Glass is certainly the material of choice for high-rises,” McKenzie confirms. “You can see hundreds of kilometres away from up there. It’s all about the views.”

Even the way people use their homes is trend-effected. Overall size, the type and number of rooms incorporated into the layout, and (of course) finishing packages are all influenced by trends. “Buyers are driving down the average size of condos right now,” says McKenzie. “They used to dictate around 650 square feet, but now they’re asking for around 600 square feet. These are young market buyers who do a lot of living outside their home. They eat out or order in; they socialize outside. They don’t use their homes to entertain so they don’t need the extra space.”

Typical condo units these days are one bedroom or one bedroom plus den layouts – a significant change from the two bedroom layouts popular just a few years ago. “We do pretty much a 50/50 split between one bedroom and one bedroom plus den layouts now,” says McKenzie.

Perhaps an even bigger layout change is the almost complete elimination of dining rooms in new units across the city. “It has to do with demand for less square feet,” McKenzie explains. “The room that typically gets lost is the dining room, but with the out-of-the-house lifestyle of these buyers, it’s lost space anyway.”

More subtle but no less significant trends include: the omission of fireplaces (“People would rather have space for a plasma TV,” McKenzie says); clean, contemporary finishing packages (“It has to be easy to maintain,”); and strangely enough, reduced parking. “More people are walking, using transit or riding bikes,” McKenzie says. “There used to be two parking stalls per unit, now usually it’s only one. A new bylaw states there be enough bicycle parking for 50 per cent of all units in a multi-family development. We’ve designed buildings with enclosed, heated storage lockers big enough to hang a bike in.”

If you’re like 90 per cent of condo buyers in Calgary these days, all the aforementioned probably sounds wonderful. But if you happen to be partial to bigger floor plans, more bedrooms and a rambling villa-style layout, bide your time. Condo trends are kind of like the weather: if you don’t like it, wait five minutes. Things are bound to change.   CL