Guinness World Record awarded at sustainable downtown building in Edmonton

A ceremony for The SunRise in downtown Edmonton. The Guiness World Record was handed out for the largest solar panel mural on May 27, 2025. (Evan Klippenstein/CTV News Edmonton)

A Guiness World Record was presented at the grand opening of a colourful, newly renovated building in downtown Edmonton on Tuesday.

The SunRise located on 106 Avenue and 101 Street features the world’s largest solar panel mural, created by Indigenous artist Lance Cardinal.

Canadian company Mitrex manufactured the solar façade and worked on the project with Avenue Living.

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The idea to renovate and retrofit the building and turn it into a sustainable home for families started five years ago.

“The formula wasn’t working and we knew we had to make a drastic change,” Max Daniel Graham with Avenue Living, who owns the building, told CTV News Edmonton after the opening ceremony.

“That’s when we made the decision to empty the building, go through a renovation, go through a retrofit, and create what you see today.”

The building is a multi-family residential and mixed-use property with 179 primary studio suites.

Avenue Living says they are hoping to attract students attending MacEwan University, new Canadians, and people in the nearby community.

“We are in the heart of Chinatown and so that will have a draw for that demographic as well, and really anybody that wants a safe, comfortable, (and) warm apartment to live in,” Graham said.

The record-breaking solar panel mural came to life when Avenue Living approached Cardinal, who has collaborated with them in the past, and told him they wanted to “make a mark in the community.”

“He came to the table and said, ‘Hey, I have this idea. I want to pull together the First Nations Cree totem, seven sacred animals in the Cree totem, and the 12 animals in the Chinese zodiac and do something up the whole side of the building,’” Graham said, describing the mural which pictures animals like a bear, beaver, pig and monkey.

“The world record that we accomplished today is just a wonderful add-on,” he added. “But it was really about making this community, this building, part of the community and as (Cardinal) mentioned, a place that our neighbors feel seen.”

Graham said it cost about $20 to $30 million to renovate and retrofit The SunRise. Adding that they took the building down to its concrete core before building new kitchens and bathrooms in each suite, and putting amenities on the second floor.

Suites are open for lease and the developers hope to fill up occupancy over the next several months.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Evan Klippenstein