Brigil unveils revised $400M Gatineau condo-hotel project
Paula McCooey, Ottawa Citizen
Published on: November 12, 2015 | Last Updated: November 12, 2015 10:18 PM EST
When architect Douglas Cardinal designed the Canadian Museum of History three decades ago, he envisioned a highrise community that would someday become an extension of the tourist destination.
Now Cardinal gets to realize that dream, having been commissioned to help redesign Brigil’s ambitious mixed-use condo hotel Place-des-Peuples, along with Neuf architects, that will link to the museum underground and transform the community into a hub for residents and the million-plus visitors the museum draws each year.
“I looked at the whole museum as a piece of sculpture because I felt that I would want in the future people looking over and enjoying the museum and seeing this view,” said Cardinal, who also designed the Wabano Centre for Aboriginal Health and has been a vocal opponent of Windmill Development’s Zibi community project. “I always pictured a highrise, for people to live in this particular area.”
The contemporary LEED project is a bold complex with two connected glass towers — one 35 storeys and the other 55 — that will include 320 five-star hotel rooms, 420 condominium units, and 55,000 square feet of commercial space for restaurants, cafés, galleries and boutiques. LEED is the acronym for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.
The $400-million project was officially unveiled at the 30th anniversary gala at the Canadian Museum of History on Thursday evening. It will be built directly behind the museum and include a glass elevator that will take museum visitors to an observation deck with a 360 degree view of Ottawa-Gatineau.
Brigil, which started out building homes in 1985, has graduated to condo towers on both sides of the Ottawa River, including the proposed 121 Parkdale north of Wellington Street, a the 32-storey luxury condo that blends brick and curved glass, and, like Place-des-Peuples, is still in the planning stage.
Brigil unveiled the project this past spring and made some modifications after listening to public feedback.
Cardinal and the highriseam made a brief presentation to the media on Thursday at 61 Rue Laurier, the current presentation centre and future site the development.
Frederic Lewis, Brigil general manager, said the project would bring the city $8 million dollars in tax revenue per year. He said the modifications included incorporating more glass and less concrete to reflect light, incorporated a podium-style design to ensure the base was in line with surrounding homes and buildings, and incorporate a gathering space the area sorely needs.
“It will create the life that we are missing in Gatineau,” says Lewis, who expects the project will take three to four years to complete. ” When you walk outside, let’s say at 6 p.m., the city is quite dead, you don’t see any action. So we are following the city objective to get 10,000 people over 10 years (to move into the core).
“We have to create density and that’s what we’re doing.”
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