Tag: ottawa | ArchDaily

Historic Materials in the Digital Age: How Digitally Assisted Stone Carving Adds a New Dimension to Heritage Restoration

Moises Carrasco — Mon, 29 Dec 2025 04:00:00 +0000

Heritage restoration has always been an intricate process that requires delicate balancing between preserving the integrity of historic materials while integrating contemporary techniques that can enhance accuracy, efficiency, and resilience. With the restoration process of Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Canada's capital city, this intersection of tradition and technology is now on full display. The East Block, built in 1865, offers a compelling example of how digital tools can support the efforts of heritage restoration and contribute to a centuries-old craft such as stone carving.

Architecture Now: International Projects by HOK, COLL-BARREU, and Knight Architects Reshape Public Space

Nour Fakharany — Fri, 04 Apr 2025 04:00:00 +0000

This month's architecture news spotlights a global wave of adaptive reuse, large-scale infrastructure, and public realm transformation. From airport expansions to museum reconfigurations, architects worldwide are rethinking how civic spaces serve communities in the 21st century. Notable developments include Sasaki, SLA, and MVVA being shortlisted to reimagine Toronto's Downsview Airport into a pedestrian-oriented public corridor, and HOK's 2.8 million-square-foot expansion of Dulles International Airport to accommodate future growth while honoring Saarinen's original vision. In Melbourne, Fraser & Partners received planning approval for a heritage-led redevelopment of the Boiler House precinct, while COLL-BARREU ARQUITECTOS completed a subtle reconfiguration of public access at Madrid's Reina Sofía Museum. Finally, in Canada, Knight Architects revealed the "Motion" design for the Alexandra Bridge replacement, an arching structure shaped by ecological references and inclusive public space. Read on for the latest updates shaping architecture today.

Blending Heritage: Canada’s Integration of Revival Architecture and Modern Design

Moises Carrasco — Sun, 03 Nov 2024 07:30:00 +0000

The architecture in Canada has evolved to reflect both its European heritage and modern global trends while adapting to the country's environment. As Canada developed, architectural styles became a means to express its identity as an independent nation. This architectural development, especially in the 19^th and early 20^th centuries, was influenced by colonial styles from Great Britain and France. While French colonial was more prominent in Quebec, British styles influenced the rest of the country.

The Warren House / PLOTNONPLOT Architecture Inc.

Hadir Al Koshta — Thu, 26 Sep 2024 16:00:00 +0000

Taking experiential cues from a rabbit's lair, this home was custom-built for a growing family in the residential Westboro neighborhood of Ottawa. Hidden behind an existing tree and a protective wooden screen detail, the main living spaces are embedded into the ground, allowing domestic warmth to radiate upward and out while providing safety from the street.

Nicol Building / Hariri Pontarini Architects

Pilar Caballero — Fri, 30 Aug 2024 16:00:00 +0000

The design competition for Carleton University’s Sprott School of Business called for a landmark building at a high-profile campus crossroads. The school sought to express its core values of creativity, connection, and innovation in built form and to create a place that welcomes and inspires students and staff. The design response is a beacon of visual interest that holds a tree-lined view that extends from the Rideau River to Carleton’s entry plaza and transit hub.

Diamond Schmitt and KWC Architects Collaborate on Ottawa Public Library and Library Archives Joint Facility

Nour Fakharany — Tue, 14 Nov 2023 04:30:00 +0000

The Ottawa Public Library and Library and Archives Canada Joint Facility is taking shape as a prominent landmark in the heart of the Canadian capital. Designed by Diamond Schmitt, in collaboration with KWC Architects, the institution is envisioned as an inspiring hub for gathering, learning, and discovery. The project is progressing steadily toward its slated opening in the summer of 2026.

Range Life Home / RELM Builders + PLOTNONPLOT Architecture

Hadir Al Koshta — Fri, 21 Jul 2023 16:00:00 +0000

Range Life is a contemporary bungalow designed to house a young family in Ottawa's established Glabar Park neighborhood. Various design and detailing strategies were implemented to blur the interior and exterior and yield a home that captures both the openness of roaming outdoors with the safety of enclosure.

David Chipperfield Architects and Zeidler Architecture Selected to Redesign “Most Prestigious Property in Canada”

Dima Stouhi — Fri, 20 May 2022 06:30:00 +0000

David Chipperfield Architects and Toronto-based Zeidler Architecture, have won an international competition to transform the Block 2 parliamentary precinct, a 51,000 sqm redevelopment zone in downtown Ottawa, Canada. As a site with significant national importance, the project aims to not only provide facilities for democratic government and urban infrastructure, but also to represent the values of a nation and a vision for its sustainable and inclusive future. The project proposes a new public square alongside the main building and on axis with the Peace Tower, as well as an open space to promote dialogue between Parliamentarians, the community, and the wider public.

Ottawa Art Gallery Expansion / KPMB Architects

Paula Pintos — Sun, 17 Apr 2022 15:00:00 +0000

In Canada’s National Capital Region, the Ottawa Art Gallery (OAG) and University of Ottawa (uOttawa) Theatre form part of a 17,435 m² renovation and expansion to transform Ottawa’s heritage Arts Court into a mixed-used development. Located across from the Rideau Canal, the OAG builds on the legacy of a long institutional history as a destination for art in the city. In a city defined by heritage and brutalist-era architecture, the white cubist composition creates a striking contrast to its context of grey glass and masonry office towers. Two barrier-free entrances are linked, providing east-west pedestrian connectivity through the ground level. A signature destination restaurant and café, open to the public daily and in evenings, has further activates the revitalization of the precinct.

SOM' Finalist Proposal for Canada’s LGBTQ2+ National Monument Features Empty Flagpoles as a Symbol of Collective Trauma

Andreea Cutieru — Thu, 18 Nov 2021 05:30:00 +0000

Canada's Department of National Heritage has announced the five finalists for the LGBTQ2+ National Monument competition, a project meant to honour the community and recall its oppression during the LGBT Purge period. Among the shortlisted designs is SOM's proposal, consisting of an array of flagpoles stripped of their flags, symbolising the trauma, deprivation of culture and concealment of identity that the LGBTQ2+ community was experienced. Designed in collaboration with Rebecca Belmore, Noam Gonick, and HTFC Planning & Design, the design titled Bapiiwin, meaning survival /overcoming in native Ojibwe, seeks to provide a space of remembrance while serving as a symbol of resilience.

MVRDV, Fathom Studio and Two Row Architect Reveal Finalist Proposal for Canada’s LGBTQ2+ National Monument

Andreea Cutieru — Wed, 17 Nov 2021 05:30:00 +0000

Canada’s Department of National Heritage has announced the five finalists for the LGBTQ2+ National Monument competition, a project meant to tell the story of generations of people who have been persecuted, specifically during the LGBT Purge period. Among the shortlisted designs is The Lens, a proposal that turns a symbol of oppression into an identity element and uses the landscape to express the community’s reverberation into society. Designed by a team comprising Canadian office Fathom studio, MVRDV and Two Row Architect, the proposal seeks to express resiliency, creating a space for memorialization and education while providing an inclusive space for the 2SLGBTQQIA+ community.

National Arts Centre Rejuvenation / Diamond Schmitt Architects

Andreas Luco — Fri, 09 Apr 2021 17:00:00 +0000

The National Arts Centre was a Centennial project, built in the Brutalist style. It is a robust concrete structure of rigorous geometry but sits like a dark fortress in the centre of the nation’s capital. For Canada’s 150th anniversary, the National Arts Centre’s rejuvenation project reorients and opens up the building to the city. The transformation of the NAC is an exploration in architectural transparency, relieving the opaque mass of the original and offering a new material palette. Every design decision was based on the inherent logic embedded in the original Brutalist structure, as a reinterpretation of its geometry, texture, and rigor.

The Senate of Canada Building / Diamond Schmitt Architects + KWC Architects

Andreas Luco — Thu, 11 Apr 2019 01:00:00 +0000

This adaptive re-use project transforms one of the most important cultural and historic landmarks in Canada’s capital city, Ottawa, which has re-opened to the public in 2019 for the first time in 50 years. The Senate of Canada has relocated to the former Ottawa Union Station for the ten-year restoration of Centre Block on Parliament Hill. Previously the Government Conference Centre, this prominent Beaux-Arts structure (1912) is located in the heart of the city adjacent to the parliamentary precinct and the UNESCO World Heritage Site Rideau Canal.

The World's Most Liveable Cities in 2019

Nicolás Valencia — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 06:30:00 +0000

For ten consecutive years, Vienna ranks first in the Mercer survey on cities with the best quality of life in the world. In this edition to the global ranking, eight Western European cities join the top ten, even when "trade tensions and populist undercurrents continue to dominate the global economic climate", as Mercer points out in its report.

Carleton University Health Science Building / Montgomery Sisam Architects

Daniel Tapia — Wed, 13 Jun 2018 15:00:00 +0000

The new Health Science Building transcends conventional practices for developing academic space and encourages students and teachers to move beyond traditional disciplinary boundaries. The design proposal is one that embraces the opportunity to co-locate health sciences and neuroscience students in spaces that accommodate practical and theoretical learning so as to encourage a cross-pollination of ideas.

Bank of Canada Headquarters Renewal / Perkins&Will

Daniel Tapia — Sat, 28 Apr 2018 09:00:00 +0000

In the heart of Canada’s capital, the iconic Bank of Canada stands boldly in Ottawa’s Parliamentary District. In January 2012, Perkins+Will was awarded the commission to transform the operations, space and working culture of one of Canada’s finest institutions. Perkins+Will revitalized a proud piece of Arthur Erikson’s architectural heritage by creating a re-energized workplace and world-class headquarters for the Bank. The revitalization thoughtfully injects a new era of sustainability, energy efficiency, data and seismic technology inside the workplace, bank building, and mirrored twin towers.

Saucier + Perrotte Architectes Wins 2018 RAIC Gold Medal

Patrick Lynch — Wed, 21 Feb 2018 11:40:00 +0000

Gilles Saucier, FIRAC, and André Perrotte, FIRAC, founding partners of Saucier + Perrotte Architectes, have been awarded the 2018 RAIC Gold Medal, the highest honor bestowed by the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada to an individual or team of individuals in recognition of “a significant and lasting contribution to Canadian architecture.”

National Holocaust Monument / Studio Libeskind

Fernanda Castro — Tue, 10 Oct 2017 13:00:00 +0000

Centrally located at the corner of Booth and Wellington Streets across from the Canadian War Museum, the .79 acre site connects the museum to the historic center of the capitol city. The cast-in-place, exposed concrete