The Met [180 Metcalfe St] | 84.5m | 28f | U/C

[rocketphish]

The City of Ottawa has received an Official Plan Amendment and Rezoning application to permit a mixed-use development consisting of a 27-storey tower containing 260m2 of retail at grade, 206 residential units, 140 hotel suites, and 154 underground parking spaces. The existing heritage building would be preserved.

Development application:
http://app01.ottawa.ca/postingplans/appDetails.jsf?lang=en&appId=__9ESJMD

Renderings:
http://webcast.ottawa.ca/plan/All_Image%...lan%20%26%20Architectural%20Drawings.PDF

[rocketphish]

27-storey building proposed for Ottawa's Medical Arts Building site

Carys Mills, Ottawa Citizen
Published on: October 29, 2014, Last Updated: October 29, 2014 6:30 PM EDT




A 27-storey development is being proposed for Metcalfe Street, but it would require amendments to both an official plan and a major zoning bylaw.

The high-rise would intensify a site now home to the six-storey, yellow-brick Medical Arts Building, at Metcalfe and Nepean streets. Most of the existing heritage building, 80 per cent of it, would be maintained and integrated into the development, according to plans filed to the city by Toth Equity Ltd.

Both the Metcalfe and Nepean street facades would be kept and worked into the new design, including a six-storey podium and 21-storey tower. The exact uses for the building, at 180 Metcalfe St., haven’t been determined.

But Toth wants to combine at-grade retail with residential, office or hotel uses, or some sort of combination. A concept plan has 206 residential units and 140 hotel suites.

“Overall, the proposed development will intensify a site located at the edge of an established community in Ottawa’s central core,” the planning rationale says. “A unique and innovative design coupled with an ideal location make this site appropriate for the proposed development.”

But the developer would first have to win approval from the city’s planning committee and council. Zoning for the site would need to be amended, including to allow for the height of 87 metres, where 37 metres is the current limit, and to add hotel, office and retail as permitted uses.

An official plan amendment would also be required to allow an office and hotel as permitted uses, to permit non-residential uses on any floor and for non-residential uses to exceed 50 per cent of the building’s gross floor area.

[email protected]
twitter.com/CarysMills


http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news...d-for-ottawas-medical-arts-building-site

[Urbanarchit]

I'm alright with development here. The Medical Arts Building was designed by Noffke, and is probably one of my top favourite buildings in the city, so I hope they don't plan to remove too much (or anything). To demolish 20% doesn't impress me.

That being said, bit bland, but not awful, as far as I could tell. I like that there's a lot going up in this general area with Tribeca and the 3 Claridge towers.

[McC]

Black and grey and oblong from Rod Lahey? blimey, that's a shocker!

[drawarc]

Wish they'd preserve all of Medical Arts building. Tower reminds me a little bit of this:
http://www.emporis.com/building/xcondominium-toronto-canada

[Urbanarchit]

Originally Posted by drawarc

Wish they'd preserve all of Medical Arts building. Tower reminds me a little bit of this:
http://www.emporis.com/building/xcondominium-toronto-canada

Yeah, they should. I think the project should happen, but I'd like them to modify the design to keep 100% of it.

Ever been inside? A bit of a time-capsule.

[OTSkyline]

I like the view looking west with the beige brick building and slim glass tower emerging out of it, very nice. The other views are not as nice, bland and very long. Would have prefered to see this as a thinner square tower but adding another 10 floors to it (rather than having it a larger rectangular tower but shorter). I mean, the 27 story ceiling is getting old.. Especially with two 27 story towers in Tribeca directly next to it...

That's also a lot of hotel proposals lately with the ByWard Market one, the one in The Slater, one in Arts Court and another one here?

All in all, I like to see new project and seeing the downtown skyline slowly creeping south towards the 417 but it's not a very exciting project.

[Harley613]

Originally Posted by OTSkyline

I mean, the 27 story ceiling is getting old.. Especially with two 27 story towers in Tribeca directly next to it...

Walls of 27 story towers are destroying our city

[Rob64]

To me, this looks like they stuck a tower on top of the cringe-worthy Lebreton condos.

[kevinbottawa]

I always wanted to see the Medical Arts Building incorporated into a highrise development. The design is ok, but I wish it was taller and slimmer though.

[Urbanarchit]

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[citydwlr]

Really nice building! Actually, when they said they didn't know what the main use of the "podium" of the building would be, looking at the MAB itself reminded me of a library. Could this whole podium not be a solution for our Central Library issue?

The tower portion is alright, but a bit boring as others have mentioned. A few floors taller (30-34) would have been nice as well, and I would have liked something to break up the minutia of the dull box-like design that is all too common here.

[J.OT13]

80% is not ideal but it sure beats the Ottawa standard of preserving a few bricks and windows or building cheap replicas. I like the tower itself, modern with a classic international flair. I agree that a few more floors would be nice, of only to break the mold.

[Urbanarchit]

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[Urbanarchit]

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[drawarc]

Looking at elevation diagram, it shows "approximate line of viewplane", is that for Parliament Hill?

[Urbanarchit]

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[drawarc]

Ok, that likely explains all the new residential buildings in Centretown being 27 or 28 floors.

[Marcus CLS]

Hopefully the renderings are accurate. It looks like they are trying to save a substantial portion of the existing facade. Basically saving the facade seems to be the best way to save what little heritage architecture there is left in Ottawa.

[McC]

Was the 750 square metre benchmark for the floorplates of tall towers incorporated into the Centretown CDP? If I'm reading the above correctly, the proposal looks like ~800sq metres (20x40, basically). Shaving 6-7% of the east-west width of the tower off to get it down below that target would help rea bit IMO. Be interesting to see what does and doesn't change after few rounds at the Design Review Panel, too. (Would they like the contrasting brick colours in the new podium? Or would they ask for them to try and match the Medical Arts Building? Who knows!)