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

[Rathgrith]

Originally Posted by waterloowarrior

Is it just me or do I think this is fugly? I really think the the university should construct a building that tries to connect with the canal. The university, and to a lesser extent Sandy Hill, should connect to the canal with a short building that provides more visual. Its bad enough there is a 8 lanes of roads. A wall of 16 story buildings does not help either. This new building does not do justice creating a entrance to the canal. (Maybe whenever LRT is built and the transitway is replaced with green space it will be better.)

The building looks too tall and narrow. Its just feels seems awkward, imo. Its a modernist building in the sea of red brick residences and the quasi art deco structure that is Vanier Hall. The over use of glass make its look like just like ever other skyscraper in downtown Ottawa. Except in this case, its has a acute angle. Oh, Fancy! (please note the sarcasm) I know the university wants to maximize natural light in buildings, but there is only so much glass a building can use because it looks like broken glass.

Bottom line, I think its too tall and awkward. It should be 6-8 floors at the most. It should compliment Vanier Hall, not overshadow it.

Sorry for the negative post, its probably because I am grumpy as the building they are knocking down was a favorite of mine. It had that 1970's modernist psychology professor's office feel to it. I miss it.

Originally Posted by Mille Sabords

Umm. wtf? lol. That better be your reaction to the potential for a underground passageway to the proposed LRT station.

[spotlight]

Originally Posted by O-Town Hockey

Wow, way to go Ottawa U! I give Allan Rock credit for anything progressive going on at U of O these days; a great addition to my university IMO.

Actually Gilles Patry's era planned this one.. the designs were complete before Rock was even selected.. Rock basically shook the hands of the MP's etc.. for the funding.. i look forward to Rock's first project as president.. not sure what or when it will be but i look forward to it

[spotlight]

Originally Posted by Rathgrith

Is it just me or do I think this is fugly? I really think the the university should construct a building that tries to connect with the canal. The university, and to a lesser extent Sandy Hill, should connect to the canal with a short building that provides more visual. Its bad enough there is a 8 lanes of roads. A wall of 16 story buildings does not help either. This new building does not do justice creating a entrance to the canal. (Maybe whenever LRT is built and the transitway is replaced with green space it will be better.)

The building looks too tall and narrow. Its just feels seems awkward, imo. Its a modernist building in the sea of red brick residences and the quasi art deco structure that is Vanier Hall. The over use of glass make its look like just like ever other skyscraper in downtown Ottawa. Except in this case, its has a acute angle. Oh, Fancy! (please note the sarcasm) I know the university wants to maximize natural light in buildings, but there is only so much glass a building can use because it looks like broken glass.

Bottom line, I think its too tall and awkward. It should be 6-8 floors at the most. It should compliment Vanier Hall, not overshadow it.

Sorry for the negative post, its probably because I am grumpy as the building they are knocking down was a favorite of mine. It had that 1970's modernist psychology professor's office feel to it. I miss it.



Umm. wtf? lol. That better be your reaction to the potential for a underground passageway to the proposed LRT station.

I feel sorry for the person you seem to be.. so short sighted and closed minded.. just to summarize what your ideal building would be:

a short stubby building with little to no glass apparently

remind me never to visit your world !

[AuxTown]

I agree Rath, for shame. lol

[waterloowarrior]

I really like the building's design but I'm not sure about the colour scheme. Something about the white doesn't seem quite right. Maybe it's just the lighting in the render. The partly enclosed space near the door on the Nicolas side is nice, created by the part of the building that juts out. You aren't stepping out right into busy traffic, there's a bit of transition.

By the way, thanks for the insider post a while back, spotlight

[bikegypsy]

I am drueling.

[Jamaican-Phoenix]

Awesome.

[drawarc]

The tower and main entrance is real nice. The colour of the Nicholas street side looks a little bland though in the rendering.

[c_speed3108]

Awesome...I could not believe what I saw in the paper this morning!!!!

This kicks ass!


I love the way almost every building on the U of O's campus makes its own statement. They have been doing this for decades. Even in low budget times they came up with things like Montpetit hall with it's angled windows which still turns the heads of every parade of high schools on their come to the U of O campus tour.

[c_speed3108]

Also just noticed they got rid of the ugly receiving area from the front of Vanier Hall...at least in the renderings anyway.


The U of O's release:

University of Ottawa receives $80 million in capital funding from Federal and Provincial Governments

OTTAWA, May 25, 2009 — The University of Ottawa is to receive an $80 million boost in infrastructure funding from the Governments of Canada and Ontario.

These investments will fund the construction of the Vanier Tower, a $112.5 million, 15 storey, state-of-the-art, eco-friendly building, as well as the renovation of the existing Vanier building. The Vanier Tower will provide 22,000 square metres of much-needed learning and research space, and will be the new home of the Faculty of Social Sciences including research space in priority areas such as neuroscience and experimental psychology, economics, public policy and management.

Of the total investment of $80 million, the Government of Canada will contribute $30 million under the Knowledge Infrastructure Program and the Province of Ontario will contribute $50 million in matching funds. The University of Ottawa will provide the remaining $32.5 million. The combined government contributions are the single largest infrastructure investment in the history of the University of Ottawa. They will not only strengthen the University’s infrastructure but also stimulate much-needed economic activity in the region by creating 1100 jobs in the construction and manufacturing sectors during the next two years.

"On behalf of the entire University community, I thank both governments sincerely for this important investment. It will make a world of difference in our ability to build the infrastructure our students and faculty need”, said Allan Rock, President of the University of Ottawa. “This investment is a major contribution towards our efforts to create a world class research and learning environment for both students and faculty."

"Our government, led by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, is making important infrastructure investments across Canada," said John Baird, Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities. "During this global recession, we're doing our part to help create jobs, stimulate the economy and prepare Canada for long-term prosperity.

"Our government's investment in infrastructure projects with the post-secondary institutions of Ottawa will create hundreds of jobs and help boost our local economy," said the Honourable Madeleine Meilleur, MPP for Ottawa-Vanier. "This investment will also help to build the strong reputations of our colleges and universities as well as attract new students, including Francophones, from across Canada and around the world."

In recent years, the University of Ottawa has experienced rapid growth, with the student body increasing from 26,000 in 2002 to 36,000 in 2009. At the same time, the University has become one of the most research-intensive in Canada, ranking now as 7th out of the 50 research universities in the country. The funding announced today will help meet the ever-increasing demand for learning and research space, and honour the commitments set out in the University of Ottawa Five-Year Facilities Renewal and Expansion Plan.

Construction on the project is scheduled to begin in July 2009 and should be completed by April 2011. The building is projected to be at least 50% more energy efficient than the current national standard for energy efficiency and is designed to achieve a “GOLD” certification in the LEED program.

[Mille Sabords]

Originally Posted by Rathgrith

The university, and to a lesser extent Sandy Hill, should connect to the canal with a short building that provides more visual. Its bad enough there is a 8 lanes of roads. A wall of 16 story buildings does not help either. This new building does not do justice creating a entrance to the canal. (Maybe whenever LRT is built and the transitway is replaced with green space it will be better.)

Hey Rath, I hope you're in a better mood today. I agree that there has to be a better connection between the Canal and the University. But this is too far from the canal for the connection to mean anything. There's 100 metres between the Transitway frontage of the new building and the Canal's pathway! IMO, the real connection will happen once the subway is built and the Transitway is gone. Even at that point, we'll have to tame the Nicholas Expressway. We'll have to revert to a normal streets-and-blocks condition way further south, closer to the Queensway ramps, and reopen some cross streets to take people all the way to the canal on an actual sidewalk. And then, we'll have to allow for actual buildings with frontage along a widened canal walkway.

Originally Posted by Rathgrith

The building looks too tall and narrow. Its just feels seems awkward, imo. Its a modernist building in the sea of red brick residences and the quasi art deco structure that is Vanier Hall. The over use of glass make its look like just like ever other skyscraper in downtown Ottawa. Except in this case, its has a acute angle. Oh, Fancy! (please note the sarcasm)

There is no sea of red brick houses there any more. There's a sea of concrete brutalist monsters from the 1970's and this building has the curves and sensuousness to give us something to caress with the eyes. I like its height, it's actually shorter than the two residences just north but more than anything, the building has verticality designed into it, so it looks to soar taller than its 15 storeys. Again, amidst the sea of squat boxes that surround it, this will be a beacon. Plus, the rounded corner greeting people coming into downtown is brilliant. Our own little flatiron building.

Originally Posted by Rathgrith

Umm. wtf? lol. That better be your reaction to the potential for a underground passageway to the proposed LRT station.

No, that's my reaction to the whole thing including the subway connection. Hey, I understand you feel the blues if you like the building they're knocking down. That psycology professor must've really given you some awesome education in that building. The happy memory will live on as they always do. The city will look better at the end of the day.

[Richard Eade]

I know it is off topic a bit, but doesn't UofO now own the entire east side of King Edward beside the campus? Any ideas on what will happen there? It should be shorter stuff to blend with the neighbourhood east of it.

[c_speed3108]

Originally Posted by Richard Eade

I know it is off topic a bit, but doesn't UofO now own the entire east side of King Edward beside the campus? Any ideas on what will happen there? It should be shorter stuff to blend with the neighbourhood east of it.

They own 80-something percent of the land over there.

There are a few proposals for over there over the longer term. I know enlarging what is currently the math building was one. The concept was generally slightly taller buildings at the street corners and shorter ones in mid block. Think 4-6 story building for the most part. Perhaps a bit taller at Templeton since that intersection sits really low.

The next big project after the Vanier tower is the expansion of the faculty of law - fautueax hall.

They also need to sort out what to do with 200 Lees which is currently being used by assorted persons displaced by the Vanier hall worlk.

[Rathgrith]

Originally Posted by spotlight

I feel sorry for the person you seem to be.. so short sighted and closed minded.. just to summarize what your ideal building would be:

a short stubby building with little to no glass apparently

remind me never to visit your world !

You're the architect and/or the university planner arn't you?

Don't take it personally, I just have a connection with 120 University. That's what architecture does; whenever its classic Gothic at Parliament Hill or a concrete monster from 1970's brutalization. Maybe something happened there that helped me develop a emotion connection with structure. Isn't that the goal of architecture: to develop a bond between the user and the edifice?

This is a forum after all and we are all given a chance to have our opinions, so for you to state that I am a short sighted close-minded person based on reading one post is rather superfluous.

P.S. I don't think you exactly read my comment on glass. I want just enough glass not too much. Think of the sand at the beaches!

[Mille Sabords]

Originally Posted by Rathgrith

This is a forum after all and we are all given a chance to have our opinions, so for you to state that I am a short sighted close-minded person based on reading one post is rather superfluous.

And I will defend to the death your right to voice your opinions.

[AuxTown]

The old building is like 90% demolished already. It's amazing how quickly you can tear something down when you're not trying to salvage the parts in some kind of pseudo-environmentalist project like the Congress Centre (sssslllllooooowwww demolition).

[waterloowarrior]

[Rathgrith]

Originally Posted by O-Town Hockey

The old building is like 90% demolished already. It's amazing how quickly you can tear something down when you're not trying to salvage the parts in some kind of pseudo-environmentalist project like the Congress Centre (sssslllllooooowwww demolition).

The ironic thing is that the next building is supposedly LEED gold rated.

[blackjagger]

Originally Posted by Rathgrith

The ironic thing is that the next building is supposedly LEED gold rated.

LEED usually doesn't have much impact on the demolition phase. More the planning stages and turn-over. Good to see lots of progress though I really like what this will do to that corridor.

[Deez]

That is a super-duper cantilever...I guess that explains the truss.