University of Ottawa - Vanier Hall tower | 15 fl | Completed

[c_speed3108]

Originally Posted by O-Town Hockey

This will be a great addition to the U of O campus. It's not just the building going up but what I hope will be some great landscaping and removal of some surface parking that surround this part of campus (moving the spots underground). Once this project is complete all they need to do is expand the residences into that other hideous surface lot along the Transitway (not sure if that's in the plans though). That would make the walk through campus a much more intimate, pleasant, and contiguous experience.

I believe most of or much of that parking lot was to be removed and replaced by an outdoor area they were going to call Place D'universite or something like that...

I would think the next big project would probably be the Fauteux Hall expansion.

As for the parking lots beside the residences, they have not yet planned anything there yet (as far as I know). I would imagine that would probably get used for an academic building. Underground parking would be easy since they could just link to the underground Perez garage.

The other option they have for academic space is to build the north tower on the Desmarais Building and complete that complex.

As for residences I would think the land on the other side of King Edward. They actually had planes for more Brooks-style low-rise apartments around King Edward and Templeton. Brooks is a super popular res. They shelved that plan when they were offered the site beside the Royal Oak where the Hyman Soloway Res was built.

[c_speed3108]

The English language student newspaper ran a feature a couple weeks ago with a ton of chit-chat with the chief architect. Some interesting tidbits contained.

http://www.thefulcrum.ca/articles/29874

[LeadingEdgeBoomer]

The next large construction project that is likely to be announced is a new sport complex on the sotheast corner of Mann and King Edward.

Some day the federal governmnet will move out of the present National Defence HQ for new digs. They have been talking about it for years.

Since the current NDHQ is next to the Desmarais Building it would be a natural fit for uOttawa to acquire it. It has tons of floor space in it.

[c_speed3108]

Originally Posted by LeadingEdgeBoomer

The next large construction project that is likely to be announced is a new sport complex on the sotheast corner of Mann and King Edward.

Some day the federal governmnet will move out of the present National Defence HQ for new digs. They have been talking about it for years.

Since the current NDHQ is next to the Desmarais Building it would be a natural fit for uOttawa to acquire it. It has tons of floor space in it.

I can't see the federal government giving up that building even if DND moves out but I must say it would certainly give the U of O the opportunity to do something absolutely stunning! On the flip side, the truck route though campus would not be real cool.

[LeadingEdgeBoomer]

c_speed3108 wrote

can't see the federal government giving up that building even if DND moves out but I must say it would certainly give the U of O the opportunity to do something absolutely stunning! On the flip side, the truck route though campus would not be real cool.

Who knows what the feds will do? I guess it depends on what they estimate their space needs are at the time of NDHQ departure. However, the university should keep on top of it and not miss the opportunity to get it if becomes available.

Hopefully by the time it happens the new On -Que Bridge will come about and truck traffic in that area be reduced.

It is all speculation on my part. anything happening will not be for many years from now.

[Ottawan]

Originally Posted by c_speed3108

On the flip side, the truck route though campus would not be real cool.

Tunnels à-la-Carleton, or skywalkways from Desmarais (but please, up high so they don't obstruct views like the horrible ones on Rideau Street), or better: both, solve this problem.

[LeadingEdgeBoomer]

Been a while since there has ben any comment on this project.

How is it progressing. Is the construction on schedule?

[blackjagger]

Originally Posted by LeadingEdgeBoomer

Been a while since there has ben any comment on this project.

How is it progressing. Is the construction on schedule?

The attached link has a live web cam of the site. Its hard to tell but it looks like there is some complicated underpinning, based on the horizontal shoring. Could explain why its taking so long to finish the excavation and start pouring some concrete.

http://www.uottawa.ca/services/immeub/eng/construction_projects.htm

[DarkArconio]

Unlike most of downtown, the bedrock drops way around here and so they're building the foundation in clay. I suspect that is more involved than just pouring concrete onto rock.

I work on campus, and there's something going on all the time on the site. They're also completally gutting and renovation the attached older vanier hall, where progress is not as visible.

[c_speed3108]

Originally Posted by DarkArconio

Unlike most of downtown, the bedrock drops way around here and so they're building the foundation in clay. I suspect that is more involved than just pouring concrete onto rock.

I work on campus, and there's something going on all the time on the site. They're also completally gutting and renovation the attached older vanier hall, where progress is not as visible.

They have mostly completed the replacement of the windows in the old part of vanier hall.

They have also been busy constructing a new underground tunnel (probably utilities) heading in the direction of Lamoureux Hall on a diagonal. Lamoureux Hall is also under extensive renovations. They have completed the first floor and are working on the second floor now. It is turning out quiet nice.

[DarkArconio]

Yeah, many parts of the campus are looking up. The Vanier tower site says that 80% of the heating is to come from computer exhaust from the university's servers, they must route the heating through the tunnel system that spans campus.

The site says that the whole vanier building is slated for replacement at some point, but I think that's like a 20+ year time-frame. I'd love for them to remove the parking space in front of it, but the city is forcing the university to maintain minimum amounts of parking space for its students and employees, so I doubt we'll be getting anything nicer there.

[c_speed3108]

Originally Posted by DarkArconio

Yeah, many parts of the campus are looking up. The Vanier tower site says that 80% of the heating is to come from computer exhaust from the university's servers, they must route the heating through the tunnel system that spans campus.

The site says that the whole vanier building is slated for replacement at some point, but I think that's like a 20+ year time-frame. I'd love for them to remove the parking space in front of it, but the city is forcing the university to maintain minimum amounts of parking space for its students and employees, so I doubt we'll be getting anything nicer there.

Much of the university's heating is hot water/steam that comes through the underground tunnels which all lead back to the power plant at Kind Edward and Templeton.

In the case of Vanier the university's data centre is located in the building so someone got a bright idea for heating the new tower.

I would not be surprised if at least a fair amount of the parking lot disappears. This was there plan. The university has paid out cash-in-leu of parking a few times. They have started to kick and screen a bit more regarding city parking regs since they have a surplus of parking...particularly in the sports complex garage...as well as the strong transit presence. They also have a massive number of spaces at Lees although that argument is weaker.

[Admiral Nelson]

Originally Posted by c_speed3108

They have started to kick and screen a bit more regarding city parking regs since they have a surplus of parking...particularly in the sports complex garage...as well as the string transit presence.

Yeah and now all the full-time students have u-passes. Strengthens the university's position.

[Traynor]

I don't know much about this project... But I took some pictures with my iPhone yesterday! I made the panoramas using Autostitch.

Yay!

First, two pictures combined of the tunnel they're building to the new building



Next, a wider angle showing the context of the tunnel. This is a montage of 8 pictures. It's taken looking Northwest across the old parking lot towards the site of Vanier Hall and the addition.



And finally, a pano of 4 images of a view looking Southwest to the site itself.



(All pictures by me and my iPhone. Panoramas created using Autostitch)

[c_speed3108]

Foundation issues:

U of 0 doing ‘best’ to finish new building

By Nick Taylor-Vaisey, The Ottawa Citizen September 28, 2010 6:44 AM


OTTAWA — Months of delays on the University of Ottawa’s newest building could mean its federal funding will be cut off next spring, even before the structure is more than a few floors off the ground.

The $112-million Vanier Tower, the largest construction project in the school’s history, was delayed almost immediately after work began on the building’s foundations.

The project received

$30 million from the federal government’s $2-billion Knowledge Infrastructure Program, part of its larger stimulus program to juice the economy out of recession.

The taps run dry on that funding at the end of March 2011.

Claudio Brun del Re, the school’s director of physical resources, said the university broke ground on the new arts and social-sciences building the day after the funding announcement. But almost immediately, he said, workers ran into problems with its foundations.

The northern portion of the site near the Rideau Canal sits on limestone, but the southern portion hits shale a few feet beneath the ground. Engineers ran into problems with the stability of that layer of shale, which didn’t provide the load-bearing capacity required for the foundations.

The problem arose last November, and it delayed the project for five months as engineers searched for solutions. Work resumed in April, and the project has been in full production since.

“We’re doing everything we can to accelerate our work,” said Brun del Re. “We’re pre-ordering as many materials and long-delivery items as we can. We’re making sure everything will be available on site at the earliest possible time.”

The delays mean the school won’t finish the project by September 2011, as originally planned. While the first few floors of the 15-storey tower will be ready for occupancy next fall, many will still require substantial work.

The delays might also mean next spring’s funding deadline will pass before the university can spend all the federal money dedicated to the project. The March deadline was imposed in an effort to get the federal money into the economy as quickly as possible; the funding is supposed to flow as projects progress, but the government has repeatedly said that if work is still going on after the deadline, the money will stop.

“We’re optimistic that the financial requirements can be met by the deadline,” Brun del Re said, but in an e-mail, he added that forecasting is difficult, because even spending the funding “is not a singular coordinated initiative, but rather a myriad of smaller individual initiatives.”

Although he was reluctant to criticize the government and “bite the hand that feeds” the university, Brun del Re said the stimulus deadline was ill-conceived.

“(The government’s) expectations that there are going to be no risks at the best of times is probably unrealistic,” he said. “You shouldn’t be faulted for doing the best you can.”

Darryl Boyce, Carleton University’s assistant vice-president of facilities management and planning, said that the Carleton projects met similar delays as the U of O project.

Boyce said that the federal government’s strict deadline “made things more stressful.” He explained that Carleton had problems with both buildings in its stimulus-funded “Waterfront Project.”

“They were both a struggle to get out of the ground,” he said. “I think if you talk to other KIP projects, there are probably a number of projects where getting out of the ground posed the most challenge.”

Brun del Re also said that some projects on other campuses are also facing delays, but he couldn’t cite examples.
© Copyright (c) The Ottawa Citizen


Read more: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/doing+best+finish+building/3587888/story.html#ixzz10p9iz3xy

[Richard Eade]

Perhaps these projects were not quite as 'Shovel Ready' as they needed to be. I would have expected that the geotech studies should have been done long before a project is considered build-able.

[Davis137]

I've been wondering why I only look at hoarding at this location every day on the bus to, and from work. Now I know why, so thanks for the update!

[Davis137]

Noticed on my way into downtown this morning, that there are now columns and rebar that are above grade, and actually visable over top of the hoarding now...

[gjhall]

Looks like the opposition forced extension of the stimulus projects completion deadline to October 2011 will save this project.

[c_speed3108]

Based on the webcam things seem to be rolling along now...

http://www.uottawa.ca/services/immeub/eng/construction_projects.htm

I also see that the School of Psychology has now moved from 200 Lees to Vanier hall....meaning the interior reno is complete.