It's official. The Government of Canada has announced plans to proceed with new headquarters for the Department of Finance on Elgin Street. The developers are Ron Engineering and GWL. David McRobie is the project's architect.
Here's the setting. The site is flanked by the Lord Elgin Hotel on the left and the British High Commission to the right. The much maligned Lorne Building which was the National Gallery of Canada's temporary home for thirty years, is to be totally demolished for the new 90 Elgin Street.
It is challenged by a steep change in grade from Albert to Slater Street. The Lorne Building had adjusted to this with a forbidding podium at the sidewalk edge. 90 Elgin's main entrance will be more accessible from the street with a ramp along its front plaza.
The new tower will match the heights of the Lord Elgin Plaza at 66 Slater, and 60 Queen behind the High Commission. The bumped out portion of 90 Elgin Street is the current height of the Lorne Building.
The tower building will be essentially T-shaped. There are at-grade retail stores along Albert Street.
Slater, which is one floor lower will also have storefronts. A mid-block crossing through the building is promised.
Seen from Confederation Park, the lower half of 90 Elgin Street is H-shaped. It's punctuated by two vertical piers clad in a yet to be determined stone.
This view of the back is conjectual since it will butt right up against the old Beacon Arms Hotel and the 91 Metcalfe Building.
I am not sure if this is what I would have imagined for this block, but nobody asked. The plane of building heights on Elgin Street established by Greber has been forcefully perpetuated. I'll leave it to others to analyze the results.
90 Elgin sits on 100 years of planning intentions. And the Lorne Building, while flawed, has a really interesting past. A middling work by the pioneers of prairie modernism, Green, Blankstein and Russell of Winnipeg, it deserves a fulsome obituary. The architects of its replacement intend to preserve the cornerstone laid by Vincent Massey in 1959 for re-use somewhere in the new building. I am gathering a collection of vintage GBR photos for a future send-off.
I neglected to mention the nod to oxidized copper roofs - that symbol of Ottawa's federal architecture. The thin vertical panels on the tower and the deep cornice overhanging the ghost of Lorne will be coloured green.
It's official. The Government of Canada has announced plans to proceed with new headquarters for the Department of Finance on Elgin Street. The developers are Ron Engineering and GWL. David McRobie is the project's architect.
Here's the setting. The site is flanked by the Lord Elgin Hotel on the left and the British High Commission to the right. The much maligned Lorne Building which was the National Gallery of Canada's temporary home for thirty years, is to be totally demolished for the new 90 Elgin Street.
It is challenged by a steep change in grade from Albert to Slater Street. The Lorne Building had adjusted to this with a forbidding podium at the sidewalk edge. 90 Elgin's main entrance will be more accessible from the street with a ramp along its front plaza.
The new tower will match the heights of the Lord Elgin Plaza at 66 Slater, and 60 Queen behind the High Commission. The bumped out portion of 90 Elgin Street is the current height of the Lorne Building.
The tower building will be essentially T-shaped. There are at-grade retail stores along Albert Street.
Slater, which is one floor lower will also have storefronts. A mid-block crossing through the building is promised.
Seen from Confederation Park, the lower half of 90 Elgin Street is H-shaped. It's punctuated by two vertical piers clad in a yet to be determined stone.
This view of the back is conjectual since it will butt right up against the old Beacon Arms Hotel and the 91 Metcalfe Building.
I am not sure if this is what I would have imagined for this block, but nobody asked. The plane of building heights on Elgin Street established by Greber has been forcefully perpetuated. I'll leave it to others to analyze the results.
90 Elgin sits on 100 years of planning intentions. And the Lorne Building, while flawed, has a really interesting past. A middling work by the pioneers of prairie modernism, Green, Blankstein and Russell of Winnipeg, it deserves a fulsome obituary. The architects of its replacement intend to preserve the cornerstone laid by Vincent Massey in 1959 for re-use somewhere in the new building. I am gathering a collection of vintage GBR photos for a future send-off.
I neglected to mention the nod to oxidized copper roofs - that symbol of Ottawa's federal architecture. The thin vertical panels on the tower and the deep cornice overhanging the ghost of Lorne will be coloured green.
I think they did a reasonable job there. I was most concerned about maintaining the height along Elgin which it looks like they have. Adding retail to the sides and a more inviting front entrance are improvements over the first building.
ReplyDeleteSee also my 2009 post on the Lorne building, which still gets lots of hits.
You have posted an amazing number of images on this project, thanks!
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately none of these images seem to make the design look attractive. The best one can say about it is that it is totally forgettable. the Lorne was not a great building, but its Elgin Street face design has more going for it than its replacement. Pity it could not have been conserved and integrated into the new project. Perhaps the continuity of the street wall along Elgin is maintained but aside from the scale of this facade there is little else positive to say. What is really disappointing is that there is no public presentation of such federal projects - on wonder centre town is so bland.
Bc
ReplyDeleteI think the feds have to walk a fine line with new gov buildings in alot of cases its needed. Its one thing to build new buildings its another thing to build new buildings that might cost double or triple the cost.
Love all those buildings,Hoping that Washington Buildings are same with Ottawa.
ReplyDeleteWell, it's better than the Lorne Building that once stood there, but it's certainly no "jewel".
ReplyDelete