OAA 2020 Design Excellence: Senate of Canada Building (Diamond Schmitt & KWC Architects Inc.)

The Senate of Canada Building (Diamond and Schmitt Architects Incorporated and KWC Architects Inc. in Joint Venture) https://www.oaa.on.ca/whats-on/bloaag/bloaag-detail/Senate-of-Canada-Building

[1] Formerly the Government Conference Centre, the Senate of Canada Building reinvents the historic Ottawa central train station as a prominent component of the Confederation Square National Historic Site. The design adopts a contemporary language of new volumes and insertions, both interior and exterior, that complement and juxtapose the classical language of the original building.

[2] Built as a party wall against a long since demolished hotel, the east façade and northeast cornice were never completed. The redefined new east façade is a modern interpretation of Beaux Art principals of composition and is influenced by the west façade rhythm of seven deep bays framed by a colonnade of six columns.

[3] Taking precedent from the Baths of Caracalla and modelled after New York’s Penn station, the Beaux-Arts classicism was originally characterized by an axially symmetrical plan along a processional route characterized by grand monumental spaces. The design adopts a clear planning strategy that restores the clarity and symmetry of the original Beaux-Arts planning, establishing a direct and coherent dialogue between the order and space of the historic train station and its current use by the Senate. Challenged to evoke a distinctly contemporary Canadian expression for the Senate, a material and finish palette is introduced that is at once commensurate with and complementary to the historic building fabric and evocative of the rich detailing of both the original building and the Senate Chamber at Centre Block.

[4] Though carefully detailed, the committee rooms are intentionally simple in their volumetric expression and sit as pavilions within the larger heritage spaces. Monumental perforated bronze panels of Canadian landscapes provide expressive façades for the two committee rooms.

[5] Working with historical photographic imagery of Canadian landscapes as a representational base, several perforation patterns were overlaid to test visual legibility and acoustic performance requirements. The images have a degree of abstraction, legible at a distance within the large space and as a more random pattern at close proximity as one enters the wood-carved doors of the meeting rooms.

[6]: Detail of committee room with bronze liner and carved wood door. The bronze perforated panels tell a tale of the vast Canadian landscape while mitigating the acoustics of the general waiting room. Seen here on the doors, a spectrum of native maple leafs were sketched, digitally rendered, CNC-carved and hand-finished for use in detailing wood, glass, and bronze elements.

[7] A modern engagement with craft, developed collaboratively with artists, craftspeople, and fabricators, is displayed throughout the building. Wood carving comes to life as reflected light captures the dynamics of movement in the Canadian Flag carving. Other symbols are rendered more abstractly, drawing on their geometries, while hand-carved guilded crests representing each province and territory sit on 14 carved pilasters (13 + 1 for Canada).

[8] Long hidden and damaged elements are revealed and restored, providing an elaborated backdrop to the insertion of the new Senate Chamber within the former train station concourse. Within the wood-panelled Chamber, carved wood pilasters incorporate abstracted pinecone patterns, while the effect of wind-blown flags is accomplished through the play of light on carved walnut panels. A random leaf pattern on the carpet evokes a forest floor while the Throne is fabricated from bookmatched Vancouver Island marble.

[9] The Senate foyer highlights the interior restoration of heritage finishes, and repairs lost and damaged elements of suspended plaster ceilings, cast iron and steel windows, and marble baseboards. Detailed paint analysis provided clues to the original colour palette while faux travertine walls are restored with a five-layered, hand-painted finish. A new stair connects to the visitor gallery above, while marble baguettes laid into a concrete terrazzo floor employs salvaged materials to enrich new installations.

[10] A key space in the Senate building is the General Waiting Room. Within this monumental vaulted space, two large committee rooms are created, symmetrically flanking the processional route and providing large, open podiums above. The previously obscured Diocletian windows are restored, and the podiums and public spaces are now flooded with natural light. Newly defined spaces, upgraded infrastructure, and the introduction of elaborated materials and finishes combines with careful restoration of historic elements to breathe new life into this building, providing for the Senate now and the city for future generations.

Images provided by doublespace and Tom Arban

Видео OAA 2020 Design Excellence: Senate of Canada Building (Diamond Schmitt & KWC Architects Inc.) канала Ontario Association of Architects