Location: Ottawa, ON
Architect: NORR Architects & Engineers Limited (Architect); Heritage Conservation Architect: Architecture EVOQ inc.
Date of Completion: 2016

OAA Design Excellence Awards Finalist

This 1927 Beaux Arts landmark, with its 1959 addition, has been transformed to become a facility for the House of Commons for the next 25 years as renovations on Parliament Hill are underway. This will be the only office many parliamentarians will have during their tenure. The design response is to provide a facility that in no way appears temporary, but extends the spatial character and enduring materials of stone and copper of the original building with an ordered, dignified composition for its status.

Site plan
Drawing Credit: NORR Architects & Engineers Limited

Plan and section drawing.
Drawing Credit: NORR Architects & Engineers Limited

The transformation involves stripping the building back to its internal structural framework, a complete building system replacement, seismic upgrades, heritage restoration and inserting a more robust structural system and new multi-storey spaces. The Beaux Arts shell and few remaining heritage rooms on the ground floor are preserved, restored and used as the inspiration for interior design of the rest of the complex.

Public entry access and Ground level lobby
Photo Credit: doublespace photography

Feature staircase
Photo Credit: doublespace photography

Heritage vestibule
Photo Credit: doublespace photography

The original 1927 heritage entry access has been developed as a private entry for Members of Parliament, while the 1959 entry has been transformed into an entry for the public. The grand space features a ground-level atrium that links the 1927 and 1959 lobbies to circulation. The fifth floor became a multi-storey library of Parliament, lined with wood panels and sculptural shells of copper recycled from the historic 1927 roof.

Multi-purpose room
Photo Credit: doublespace photography

Library of Parliament atrium.
Photo Credit: doublespace photography

Wall detail of the Library of Parliament.
Photo Credit: doublespace photography

The preservation of the building core and shell, along with sustainability components, netted a four-globe rating by the Green Globes eco-rating program. Keeping with the heritage fabric of downtown Ottawa and meeting contemporary infrastructure standards, the restoration ensures the building will be an enduring part of the federal government portfolio after its temporary use is complete.