A 12-storey tower in downtown Edmonton has been awarded the Guinness World Record for the largest solar-panel artwork spanning 379 square metres. The mural is the result of a deep-energy retrofit that modernized the 56-year-old building.Supplied/Chandos Construction
What was once a decrepit rental tower in the heart of downtown Edmonton now holds the Guinness World Record for the largest solar-panel artwork spanning 379 square metres.
Emerging as a city landmark, the mural covering the building’s north facade embraces the neighbourhood’s local Chinese community, while honouring the area’s Indigenous roots.
The creation of the mural was part of the property’s deep-energy retrofit, which reimagined the SunRise tower into a modern, sustainable multipurpose structure.
The SunRise mural is one of many public artworks in Canada that symbolize cultural unity and relational storytelling. From Winnipeg’s We Are All Related mural, which universalizes Indigenous philosophy, to the University of Toronto’s Daniels Mural Project, which responds to the calls of Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the piece extends an emerging tradition in Canada of embracing Indigeneity and cultural diversity.
Undergoing a deep-energy retrofit
Built in 1970, the SunRise is a 12-storey, 11,400-square-foot tower at the edge of Edmonton’s Chinatown – not too far from the city’s iconic sports and entertainment ICE District.
Real estate company Avenue Living owns and operates the property and partnered with Chandos Construction, M O George, Architect and Claroscuro Architecture to bring the deep-energy retrofit to life.
After approximately 16 months of construction, the building has been completely modernized with new amenities, upgraded suites, efficient mechanical systems, building envelope renewal and a solar-panel-covered exterior.
“The building had been through many stages, so what we did with it is almost a miracle compared to what it started as,” says Mobolanle George, principal at M O George, the project’s lead architect.
When the retrofit began, a small-scale contractor was taking on the expected repairs until deeper issues arose, such as flooding.
“At this point, Avenue Living wanted to overhaul all their buildings, so they decided to use this as a flagship, do a good job and make it a building viable for years to come,” she says. “We then started looking very closely at the energy options for the building.”
After considerable research, the team chose to install heat-recovery ventilation units, which bring in fresh air while capturing heat from outgoing air, and building-integrated photovoltaic cladding, among other energy-conservation measures.
Rusted studs meant the builder needed to replace the exterior east and west sides of the structure to support the solar panels. However, the existing concrete foundation could be reused, allowing for considerable savings in time, costs and embodied carbon – the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with the materials and construction throughout a building’s life cycle as defined by the Canada Green Building Council.
Called The Land We Share, the mural covering the building’s north facade has become a city-marker, honouring the neighbourhood’s Chinese community and Indigenous roots. Its colourful illustrations display the Chinese zodiac animals and First Nations sacred-teaching animals.Supplied/Chandos Construction
Energy economics
The SunRise’s transformation has been valued at $28-million, with funding coming from the Canada Infrastructure Bank through its Building Retrofits Initiative.
“Essentially, all the energy-impacting items applied to the funding, but things that weren’t, such as aesthetics, were privately funded [by Avenue Living],” says Dustin Tonsi, the SunRise’s project manager at Chandos Construction.
As part of the federal initiative, projects must achieve minimum emission reductions of 30 per cent. Greater GHG reductions lead to better funding at lower interest rates, though benefits cap out when emissions are lowered by more than 50 per cent, according to Mr. Tonsi.
When lowering the building’s emissions, Avenue Living set an ambitious internal target of 64 per cent and successfully met it, he says.
The solar-panel cladding, provided by Mitrex, plays a significant role in the building’s emissions performance. The 37,065-square-foot, 333-kilowatt photovoltaic system offsets 150 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually, contributing to a total annual offset of 493 tonnes – enough to power about 758 average homes a year.
The remaining emissions reductions are the result of other energy-saving measures such as high-efficiency boilers, hot water tanks and added insulation.
Bridging art and community culture
With its proximity to Chinatown, the building’s 85-foot mural by local Indigenous artist Lance Cardinal bridges local Chinese and Indigenous cultures.
Titled The Land We Share, it depicts the 12 Chinese zodiac animals on its right and the seven First Nations sacred-teaching animals on its left. The mural has become a marker in the city, displaying a warm burst of colour and a sense of shared community identity.
In July, 2025, Mitrex announced that the SunRise had won the Guinness World Record for the largest solar panel mural globally.
Compared to the standard non-coloured solar panels scaling the rest of the building, the coloured panels that are part of the mural are 30 per cent less efficient depending on their hue, Mr. Tonsi says.
The upgraded SunRise tower features a wide array of new resident amenities alongside main-floor commercial spaces. Some of these amenities include a fitness centre with a dedicated yoga area, a games room, golf simulator, community kitchen, and more.Supplied/Chandos Construction
The SunRise building today
Today, the building offers 179 rental suites and has transformed the former second-floor commercial area into resident amenities, a part of the project led by Ignacio De Lorenzo, principal architect at Claroscuro Architecture.
The new amenities include a games room, golf simulator, fitness centre with a dedicated yoga area and a community kitchen, among other offerings. There’s also a third-floor terrace, as well as a main floor of commercial units, with discussions for a potential coffee shop to complement the existing Omonia Foods Import grocery store.
“The SunRise is targeting not necessarily affordable housing, but more younger individuals such as students, young professionals and smaller families, while supporting the renewal of downtown Edmonton,” Mr. Tonsi says. “As far as sustainability features, that’s something important to people, especially with younger, up-and-coming generations.”
Scalability of similar retrofits in Canada
Aging infrastructure in Canada’s metropolitan centres reflects the need to revitalize the nation’s existing building stock, with the SunRise offering a compelling model for how to reimagine existing real estate, according to the project’s stakeholders.
While the energy retrofits cost more than conventional construction, the long-term gains, such as energy cost-savings, on-site energy generation and reduced GHG emissions, pay off, Mr. Tonsi says.
For Ms. George, the lesson is in the process. “I think it could be a flagship on how to approach this,” she says.