NCC offers first public glimpse of plans for renovated Government Conference Centre
Don Butler, Ottawa Citizen
Published on: June 28, 2016 | Last Updated: June 28, 2016 6:28 PM EDT
The renovated Government Conference Centre will get a stunning new facade on its planned east addition, finally eliminating an ugly bare wall that has disfigured its beauty for generations.
When the former Union Station was built in 1912, the east wall abutted an existing hotel, long since demolished. As a result it was left unadorned, unlike the rest of the striking Beaux Arts building.
But when the building reopens in September 2018 as the Senate’s temporary home, it will sport a new facade, meant as a modern complement to the classical colonnade found on the building’s canal side, said Thierry Montpetit, the project’s director at Public Services and Procurement Canada.
The new facade was just one of many features of the renovated Conference Centre revealed publicly for the first time at Tuesday’s meeting of the National Capital Commission’s board, which later gave the project design approval.
Here’s a closer look at the project:
Tab and timetable
Renovating the Conference Centre makes up “a major component” of the total $269-million cost of relocating the Senate for a decade while repairs are made to Parliament’s Centre Block.
The project is on budget and on schedule, Montpetit said, though he admitted the timetable was very tight. “It’s going to be a rush, but we are going to make it.”
Key additions
“It’s all about making this building more accessible, more functional,” Montpetit said. Until now, the building has been something of a maze inside. Getting from the front to the back, or from the ground floor to a higher level, has been a challenge.
The east addition will include elevator banks and staircases to connect the building’s north and south blocks, a loading dock and underground service connections.
There will also be a new mechanical penthouse. “Everything we’re doing is really to interconnect, to bring up floor levels so that everyone can appreciate the building in its splendour,” Montpetit said.
Restoring the glory
“This is an absolutely stunning building on the inside,” said Christopher Hoyt, a senior NCC architect. But its pedigree has been obscured by what Montpetit called “a lot of unfortunate alterations” made in the 1970s.
Those will be removed, opening the building up and allowing its natural beauty to shine through.
“For us, it’s an opportunity to give back this building to the people of Ottawa,” Montpetit said. “You’ll finally be able to appreciate the building in all its glory.”
Public access
When the building reopens in September 2018, the public will be able to sign up for tours. (It has been largely inaccessible since it became a Conference Centre in the 1970s.)
“We’re all aware that this is a very, very special building for the people of Ottawa,” said Montpetit. “We’ve worked very closely with the Library of Parliament to make sure that the tour component of the facility will work.”
Public access will be from Confederation Square, with the Senate entrance on the opposite side, facing Col. By Drive.
Life after the Senate
When the Senators decamp around 2028 to return to the renovated Centre Block, the Conference Centre will again become a meeting space. But it will be a much better place for meetings and conferences, said Montpetit.
“Very early on we made sure the investments we made for the Senate home were fully leveraged in the future. And we’re confident that it works quite well.”
What’s next
Work on the existing building’s structural components should be finished by September, with the east addition completed a year later. Work should be substantially complete by March 2018, with Senators sitting in their red chairs by September of that year.
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