Conservation Design Assist: An Innovative Model to Integrate Conservation Expertise Within the Major Rehabilitation of Canada's Parliamentary Centre Block

ABSTRACT

The Centre Block in Ottawa is a classified federal heritage building housing Canada's parliament. Nearly a century after its formal opening, it closed in 2019 for a decade-long rehabilitation. This neo-gothic building will undergo complete structural, engineering, seismic and security upgrades while preserving its heritage character and materials. The lessons learned during the rehabilitation of other classified buildings in the Parliamentary Precinct have led the proponents of the Centre Block rehabilitation to adopt an integrated approach using ‘Design Assist’ to bring conservators directly into a critical role in the schematic design and design development. In a complex, fragile and highly visible project like this, the public perception of risk to heritage assets is unparalleled. This paper explores the ways in which Design Assist departs from the traditional Design Bid Build model to integrate 17 expert conservation specialisms with the architects and the construction authority. Case studies will be used to illustrate the value added by this innovative conservation-construction model.

KEYWORDS:

• Built heritage
• historic interiors
• architectural conservation
• design assist
• planning integration
• classified federal heritage building
• Parliament
• seismic
• rehabilitation
• heritage assets

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank PCL/ED for its support. We thank our colleagues at CENTRUS for their insight and collaboration. PSPC provided valuable perspective from the client. Both PSPC and the Department of Canadian Heritage maintained a vision through the early architectural and engineering project brief and approvals for the CBRP that conservation disciplines must be included and integrated. We would also like to thank our professional colleagues on the CM Heritage team, including the conservators and heritage trades that contribute to the success of this vast heritage rehabilitation programme.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).