Wiser Hall Addition and Renovation, Prescott ON

Wiser Hall Addition and Renovation, Prescott ON

The Booth and Rochester Street Redevelopment is a Mixed-Use development utilizing existing historic buildings combined with new Office, Commercial and Residential Building additions.

The new development includes a new canal cut from Dows Lake up to the existing NRCAN Complex.  Across Booth Street a new development revitalizes and reprograms the existing historic buildings on site. The new develpment adds and introduces new office and residential programming and features unique new glass atrium's which provide summer cafe, bar and restaurant spaces, and in winter months provides hockey and skating facilities and sideline viewing garden and patio entertainment spaces.

The Ice Rink and Winter Rink Facilities will allow for late night hockey and figure skating alongside late night entertainment.  For a hockey town like Ottawa rink space is a valuable commodity and so why not develop commercial and office space along side rink space that could function early to late hours.  The facility will provide for extended Winterlude festival space in winter, and in spring will host Tulip festival concerts in Tulip Hall and the Peter Munk Performance Center.  For summer and fall months, Canada Day and other Music Festival activities can utilize this new location along the beautiful canal.  

Adjacent to the site is the TULIP HALL and PETER MUNK PERFORMANCE ARTS CENTRE and the MUNK CENTRE for EXPLORATION. This includes TULIP HALL as part of the expanded and Redeveloped ENERGY MINES AND RESOURCES CANADA facilities on Booth Street. The facilities will feature and promote the Canadian Lumber Industry and the Canadian Mining Industry and their importance to the history and future of Canada. The new exhibition facility, conference hall and performance center will feature and highlight the mining and lumber industry by recalling it's past and promoting it's future and it's historical connection to the Booth and Rochester Street site.

The Development will allow for a new destination and a new vibrant footprint along the picturesque canal system and central Ottawa. 

As the City of Ottawa and the surrounding neighborhoods grow the new development will provide a new centralize area to enjoy on foot or on bicycle, exploring historic facilities with new cultural,  sports and entertainment facilities.  With new commercial, residential and office space as well as performance and conference facilities a new an expanded riverfront neighborhood will flourish. A new entertainment district will arise along the canal water way...!

The Mixed Use Development, which could become a new campus for Shopify or other tech developers, will feature commercial shops, restaurants and bars and will cater to young High Tech Startups, Design Firms and Mixed Media clients, creating a unique and vibrant new neighborhood where Work and Play are close to home.  The sports facilities include a gym, a rock climbing facility, three indoor and one outdoor ice rinks located in Hockey Hall, Skating Hall and the outdoor Park and Plaza adjacent to Tulip Hall.  The area will feature Sports and Entertainment mixed with new residential and office facilities close to the majestic setting of Dow's Lake and the vitality and charm of Preston Street

This next Great Pearl along the Canal Chain will now create three vital commercial entertainment districts along the Rideau Canal.  The development extends destination points along the Rideau canal, and supports new waterfront opportunities linking the Byward Market, Lansdowne and the new Dows Lake Preston District.  It will provide locals and tourists with a new cool vibrate area to enjoy. 

Before long, the next generation will be jumping on canal water taxis heading to take in the Byward Market, Lansdowne and the Preston & Rochester District.  Whether for sports, entertainment, parties, weddings, and tourism, all promoting our great City of Ottawa and Nations Capital.

With one of the closest distances between Highway 417 and Dow's Lake, close to the LRT Transit, combined with the Bronson Avenue corridor and the and existing Preston commercial establishments, this new expansion of the area into a major arts and entertainment district only makes sense. The new district will retain historic fabric of the city while fostering a new Ottawa and Nations Capital entertainment place in the heart of the city along the majestic Rideau Canal.

Chateau Laurier Addition Proposal

This theoretical Chateau Laurier Addition project mixes traditional forms with modern materials & aesthetic to make a vibrant hotel addition facility that will respect the existing hotel structure, style and history, while also giving back to Majors Hill Park and the City Skyline.

The addition concept is a new contemporary building reflecting on the opportunities brought by the history of the building, the site, the park and the canal.  The addition is influenced by the surrounding buildings that prominently face the site.  The Chateau Laurier, the Parliament Library and it's buttresses, the National Gallery, and Notre Dame Cathedral all provide elements to add a playful mix of new and old architectural fabric, to add richness to the site and new building.

The addition concept is that of a simple glass vessel framed with park side flying buttresses, animating and supporting the north façade while engaging and giving back Majors Hill Park. The Indiana limestone clad buttresses frame in a northern perimeter space while also functioning as a structural support. The buttresses also serve as sunscreens and shade protection from the late afternoon summer sun. The buttresses further act as a structure to frame in the skyline views to the north, east and west, framing views of Parliament Hill, the National Art Gallery and Notre Dame Cathedral.

The hotel addition connects to Majors Hill Park with a dramatic entrance and procession thru the building addition.  From the park a north entrance bridge links to a portal through the addition building base to the courtyard. The new north entrance is accessed across a pedestrian bridge over a water filled moat with a waterfall feature dropping into a natural rock cut along the north wall of the hotel below the buttress framed space. One can enter from Majors Hill Park over a bridge entering a colonnade space framed by buttresses overhead and a water channel and the sound of falling water below. After the “cathedral” like space, one proceeds under the new addition to cross through to an enclosed landscape courtyard. The courtyard is used as an exterior lounge space and for special events and performances.

The Hotel is three basic elements, the glass vessel, the end stone walls book-ending the glass portion on the street and canal side, and the buttresses providing framing and historical references to Ottawa early architecural influences.  The stone clad buttresses create a link to Ottawa's Gothic and Chateau style architecture.  The glazed north wall, water channel and waterfall feature create contemporary dynamic architectural new elements while also reflecting on Ottawa past, reflecting on the Rideau Canal and Chaudiere Falls. The building frames spaces both internally with the water channel and buttress cathedral space, while also framing exterior views out of the city skyline and Ottawa's historic elements.

To deal with the scale and height of the addition while still allowing for developing a large capacity addition, two (2) floors levels of the hotel are sunken below grade along the sunken moat and waterfall feature. Hotel rooms are stacked from the below grade water channel and waterfall feature with floors rising up to a roof top ballroom. Hotel guests can either take a wonderful above grade room with park and courtyard views or Guests can take in a romantic below grade room featuring unique views of waterfall and natural stone rock cut formations.  The rock cut moat allows hotel guests from around the world and passerby to experience the Canadian shield rock and it's drama with a waterfall.   The channel and waterfall also act as a reminder the efforts put in by the canal workers with the Rideau Canal just below.

The Roof Top Ballroom acts as a glass ark or inverted canoe offering a nighttime lantern on the city skyline while also being a reflection on the early mode of travel of the First Nations during the period of the original inhabitats of this land.  While offering great views out to the city from the ballroom. The roof structure mixes steel and laminated timber framing for a rich warm modern framing structure.  The ballroom can be utilized for tourist sightseeing of the skyline during the day and booked at night and on weekends for performances, events, conventions, weddings and parties.