The lobby’s south interior wall is the former precast concrete outside building wall, and the designers saved and exposed the original exterior walls on the inside wherever they could. Because the center is part of the UNESCO World Heritage site, DSA presented its design strategy to municipal and federal government design review panels to demonstrate the heritage rehabilitation strategy. “We worked with a heritage consultant who prepared a conservation report explaining the strategies that recognized the characteristics of the original building,” Mallard notes.
The exterior’s initial design language included precast concrete panels articulated with five patterns of fins in varying depths, depending on the function of the spaces within. DSA created three types of bronze-anodized aluminum fins for the new addition—some with perforations that create play of light patterns in the space—in homage to the original structure.
Dynamic Scene
The government announced that the rejuvenation project would open on Canada’s 150th birthday, which offered only 18 months for construction. In addition to its tight urban site, the National
Arts Centre was fully occupied throughout construction with crews phasing work around thousands of people coming to performances.
The building’s complex hexagonal geometry also proved challenging. “Tying into the existing structure was not always straightforward,” Mallard recalls. “We fully modeled the existing building in 3-D, but the original building was not plumb and true. In fact, one section was 8 inches out, which required quick changes to the structure, finishes and alignment to manage that dis- crepancy. We relied on strong collaborations and innovative thinking throughout the project.”
The ceiling coffers are one example of ingenuity to meet the intense schedule. The coffers mimic the intricate design of the building’s concrete ceilings but are made of the same white pickled-coated glulam Douglas fir as the columns to continue the warmth of the new spaces.
DSA teamed with structural engineers who had experience with prefabricated long-span wood structures. More than 350 wood triangles were prefabricated offsite and then connected in linear pieces with all infrastructure pre-installed, including sprinkler lines and lighting and wiring for theatrical and audiovisual equipment.
When the coffers arrived onsite, the pieces were placed with a crane. The entire roof structure was assembled in three weeks. Moreover, because the underside of the roof pieces included the finished interior ceiling, the construction team saved valuable time in the finishing stage of the project. The solution shaved approximately six months off construction time.
Because the National Arts Centre cast a dark, imposing back to the city, Mallard says it was a building people loved to hate. “Our team scrutinized every aspect of this building, and it was so rigorously designed that we all grew to love it,” she says. With the new addition’s light, inviting entry and a strong communication of what occurs inside, the National Arts Centre building is now winning over new fans in Ottawa and across North America.
Retrofit Team
ARCHITECT AND INTERIOR DESIGNER: Diamond Schmitt Architects, Toronto
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Corinne Barak
Priyanka Bista
Brianna Cartwright
Michelle Chan
Bryan Chartier
Jessica Cheung
Tura Cousins-Wilson
Zoe Crinion
Claire Cybulski
Lauren Dynes
Eric Fung
Mehdi Ghiyaei
Christopher Glebe
Jim Graves
Amy Greenwood
Anthony Gugliotta
Krister Holmes
Sian Husic
Carly Kandrack
Brian Kao
John Kim
Michelle Lin
Jennifer Mallard
Kyle Marren
Judith Martin
Paolo Milanes
Ryan Mitchell
Melissa Poon
Eric Rodrigues
Sanchali Roy Chowdhuri
Donald Schmitt
Jon Soules
Michael Treacy
Matthew Tsui
Elcin Unal
Chris Wanless
STRUCTURAL ENGINEER: Fast + Epp, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
MECHANICAL AND ELECTRICAL ENGINEER: Crossey Engineering Ltd., Toronto
LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT: CSW, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
CONTRACTOR: PCL Constructors Canada Inc., Ottawa
CIVIL ENGINEERS: Parsons
HERITAGE CONSULTANT: ERA Architects, Toronto
ACOUSTICS: Threshold Acoustics, Chicago
THEATER DESIGN: Fisher Dachs Associates, New York
AUDIOVISUAL: Engineering Harmonics, Ottawa
CODE CONSULTANT: LMDG, Vancouver
LIGHTING DESIGN: Lightemotion, Toronto
URBAN DESIGN CONSULTANT: Barry Padolsky Associates Inc., Ottawa
Materials
STONE: Owen Sound Ledgerock
GLAZING: Carey Glass
GLAZING COMPONENTS: Nupress
CURTAINWALL: Verval
GLASS COATING: SunGuard SuperNeutral 70/41 from Guardian Glass
SOLID WOOD FLOORING: Logs End
ENGINEERED WOOD FLOORING AND CERAMIC AND MOSAIC TILE: Stonetile
PORCELAIN TILE: Olympia Tile
ACOUSTIC PANELS: Eomac
FABRICS: Maharam, Spinneybeck, Guilford of Maine and Knoll Textiles
PAINT: Pratt & Lambert, Farrow & Ball, and Sherwin-Williams
CARPET: Interface
LIGHTING: iGuzzini
DIGITAL SCREEN: ClearLED
RESILIENT FLOORING: Marmoleum
PHOTOS: doublespace photography