Dedicated to Preserving Our Built Heritage September 2019 Volume 46, No. 3 Château Laurier: How did it come to this? By Peter Coffman Stop this proposed addition DONATE NOW! Photos: Courtesy The Ottawa Citizen CourtesyOttawa Photos: The www.heritageottawa.org Since it opened in 1912, the Château Laurier has been an integral part of the symbolic heart of our Nation’s Capital. Despite a massive public outcry, City Council voted on July 11 to allow this defacing addition. IT’S NOT OVER! Photo: City of Ottawa dev apps of Ottawa City Photo: Heritage Ottawa is raising funds Proposed addition to the north side of the Chateau Laurier toward a legal challenge to protect the integrity of the Château and its nationally symbolic landscape. Despite a massive wave of public addition’s lack of compatibility opinion and expert analysis urging with the heritage building to which YOUR SUPPORT COUNTS! otherwise, Ottawa City Council voted it is attached. All donations, large or small, on July 11 to allow the proposed will make a difference. Tax receipts incompatible addition to the iconic Compatibility may sound hopelessly will be issued. Château Laurier to go ahead. Caught subjective, but in fact there are PLEASE DONATE NOW! up in procedure over consequences, coherent principles behind it and many councillors voted in favour of time-tested ways of achieving it. The Online at GoFundMe (gofundme. the project even after publicly stating new can simply reproduce the forms com/save-chateau-laurier-sauver) of the old, which happened when the or by cheque payable to Heritage how much they disliked it. Cries of Ottawa (with “Château Laurier” “Shame!” resonated from the packed Château was enlarged in 1927. Or the on the memo line). public gallery. new can allude to the old in a more metaphorical way by echoing salient For more information visit: How did it come to this? forms, patterns and other design Heritageottawa.org/ save-chateau-laurier From the very beginning, this issue characteristics in a modern addition. or call 613-230-8841 has been about compatibility — This is what Diamond Schmitt did or, more precisely, about the planned at the National Arts Centre in 2017. 1 How did it come to this? (contd.) Or the new can eschew the forms (and benefiting from) a publicly of the old completely, but express owned park, canal and parliamentary its underlying ethos and values in buildings. It is a private building Heritage Ottawa is a non-profit contemporary architectural language in which the public has a huge and organization dedicated to the as Arthur Erickson did at the Bank of legitimate stake. Yet what passed for preservation of Ottawa’s built heritage. Canada in 1974. “consultation” amounted to a parade of speakers, mostly affiliated with the Hunter McGill Ignoring all of these paths to building’s owner, explaining why they Guest Editor compatibility is not really making an thought the design was brilliant. Jan Soetermans “addition” to the historic building A truly consultative process would Graphic Designer at all — it’s just marking territory. not have meant unanimity on another And that’s what is happening at the design, but we could have had a public Katari Imaging Château Laurier. Printing that was engaged, rather than enraged. The Château is picturesque, romantic It was ultimately up to City Council to Heritage Ottawa and playful. Its towers, turrets 2 Daly Avenue accept or reject the result. According and gables are an integral part of Ottawa, Ontario K1N 6E2 to the Mayor, Council did not have the sublime, rugged silhouette of the authority to dictate to private Tel: 613-230-8841 Parliament and its surroundings. property owners what style or architect Fax: 613-564-4428 The planned addition is essentially should be used. This ignores the Email: [email protected] a box: all straight lines, right angles fact that City Council had not only Web: www.heritageottawa.org and mathematical precision. It does the authority but the duty to reject not echo the older building’s forms, any addition deemed unsuitable to Board of Directors nor does it join in its romantic spirit. a heritage building. Although not a single councillor could find anything Richard Belliveau What will disappear is a series of iconic positive to say about the design, a François Bregha views of the Château Laurier: from majority voted to accept it. They Peter Coffman Major’s Hill Park, from the Bytown genuinely seem not to know that they Museum, from the river and from Julie Dompierre have a legal responsibility to enforce Gatineau. But it’s not just the Château the Ontario Heritage Act. Zeynep Ekim that will be affected. Parliament Hill, Louise Fox the Rideau Canal (itself a UNESCO Next steps Ian Ferguson World Heritage Site) and the Château In order to obtain a building permit Hilary Grant form an ensemble, all situated on the owner, Larco Investments, a dramatic landscape that these Linda Hoad must obtain a minor variance at the structures were carefully crafted to David Jeanes Committee of Adjustment that complement. This vista has been on Anne Maheux would allow the removal of the our dollar bill and on our postage Heritage Overlay on the property. Leslie Maitland stamps. It is emblematic of the This is a public forum that welcomes Heather McArthur capital, and by extension the nation. input by citizens concerned about Hunter McGill The addition will draw a curtain what is being proposed. Heritage Robert Moreau across an integral part of one of the Ottawa will be participating in that country’s most spectacular and revered Carolyn Quinn process and will be notifying others architectural tableaux. Martin Rice as the date approaches. Katherine Spencer-Ross How did the process fail? Peter Coffman is the supervisor of Carleton Heritage Ottawa acknowledges the First, there’s the design process. University’s History and Theory of Architec- financial support of the City of Ottawa Yes, the Château Laurier is private ture Program, past president of the Society for and the Ontario Ministry of Culture property. But it is also a designated the Study of Architecture in Canada, and a heritage building, abutting member of the board of Heritage Ottawa. 2 Heritage Ottawa’s Rural Heritage Initiative By Sampoorna Battacharya Heritage Ottawa’s Rural Initiative aims to improve heritage awareness and advocacy of rural historical villages of Ottawa, as advised by the residents of rural communities. Several rural residents, heritage leaders and City Councillors have been interviewed over the summer to better understand the challenges and potential concerning rural heritage conservation. If you would like to provide your thoughts and ideas on how Heritage Sampoorna Battacharya Ottawa can better publicize and advocate for rural heritage, please Photo: Photo: email us at [email protected] Metcalfe Village grocery store and pizza shop Rural communities are the heart Thinking of “Ottawa” brings to there. Due to this, the heritage of of Ottawa, contributing to our mind the Parliament buildings, the rural Ottawa has been overlooked, livelihoods which are enriched with famous Rideau Canal, the Byward neglected and underrepresented in healthy food and greenspace. Rural Market, with its daytime charm as inventories of heritage properties. heritage deserves to be understood, well as its thrilling nightlife, and celebrated and protected for the excellent museums and galleries. On January 1st, 2001, eleven generations to come. Although often assumed to be a small municipalities were amalgamated Sampoorna Battacharya has been the city, Ottawa is geographically larger under the jurisdiction of Ottawa. Heritage Ottawa office manager/intern than the cities of Vancouver, Calgary, Before amalgamation, the townships for 2019. She will leave Ottawa soon Edmonton, Toronto and Montreal were represented by their own mayors to pursue post-graduate studies at the combined. Ninety percent of this land and municipal councils. Afterward, University of Guelph. is rural, but with only ten percent the previous townships became wards of the total population residing within Ottawa. Heritage Ottawa 2019-2020 lecture series. Heritage Ottawa’s 2018-19 lecture series concluded with a fascinating talk on modern residential architecture in Ottawa by architectural historian Saul Svirplys. This fall’s lectures will continue with our modernist theme as we celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Bauhaus movement. Our line up includes a history of modernism in Canada with Globe and Mail architecture critic Alex Bozikovic (rescheduled from February 2019) as well as presentations featuring reuse and renewal of modern sites in Ottawa and around the world. Our traditional emerging scholar pub night, a history of Vanier and Ottawa’s LGBTQ communities, a look into the Algonquin Way Cultural Centre, and the captivating stories of two local restoration efforts round out the programme. Watch for all the details on the Heritage Ottawa website or in the 2019-20 lecture series brochure coming to your mailbox later this summer. 3 Adaptive re-use of heritage buildings: A conversation with architect practitioners Robert Martin and Mark Brandt By Hunter McGill Are commissions for adaptive weighing down future re-use of heritage buildings development potential, welcome? Do they allow for which is often not true architectural creativity? at all. The task of the architect is to persuade Mark Brandt (MB) There is and educate the owner/ considerable scope for creativity, developer on adaptive taking into consideration the building