Parliament Hill Rehabilitation Project

[ponyboycurtis]

Originally Posted by urbanforest

From the Senate on Instagram:


This is going to be quite something to look at. Does anyone remember how long the scaffolding was up around West Block? I wonder how long this will last.

It certainly looks like a Government office tower now!

[OTSkyline]

Are they still planning on the "Trompe Oeil"? I believe I saw it on one of the west sides this summer that was hiding the construction. With the front/Peace Tower view being the most popular or iconic vantage point, I hope that its still in the cards.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by OTSkyline

Are they still planning on the "Trompe Oeil"? I believe I saw it on one of the west sides this summer that was hiding the construction. With the front/Peace Tower view being the most popular or iconic vantage point, I hope that its still in the cards.

I'm sure they will. They can't just leave it exposed like that rendering; the whole point is to keep the workers in a climate controlled environment (or at least protected from the elements) along with access.

[J.OT13]

This went under the radar. Victoria Lookout behind West Block.

Views of the Past, Design for the Future: Victoria Lookout Redevelopment

February 15, 2024

After its temporary closure in 2014 during the West Block Rehabilitation, the Victoria Lookout was to be reinstated with updates to meet current accessibility standards, making the site inclusive for Parliamentarians, Canadians, and all global visitors to Parliament Hill. As a historic site, it was critical that the design maintained the site’s heritage character. This required the work to be as discreet as possible, using a philosophy of minimal intervention and selecting historically-appropriate materials.



THE EVOLUTION OF VICTORIA LOOKOUT IN PARLIAMENT HILL'S RESTORATION

Centre Block on Parliament Hill serves as the epicentre of Canadian democracy. It is presently undergoing an unprecedented, once-in-a-century rehabilitation to modernize its physical setting and its infrastructure while respecting its heritage values.

The Victoria Lookout is located west of the Centre Block, immediately north of the [Queen] Victoria Mound. It is an important character-defining element of the Parliament Hill landscape, recognized as a National Historic Site of Canada. This vantage point has long provided picturesque views of the Ottawa River skyline — including Victoria Island and the Canadian Museum of History — and the Gatineau Hills beyond to those working on the Hill as well as to Canadian and international visitors.



The re-development of the Victoria Lookout was but one of over 30 enabling projects delivered in advance of the Centre Block’s rehabilitation. In 2014, it was closed to the public as part of the rehabilitation of the West Block: it provided construction laydown space for the new Visitor Welcome Centre, a function it would also provide for the enabling projects.

In such a place of national significance, it was critical that any design for the Victoria Lookout understood, respected, and enhanced the site’s established heritage character. The discreet intervention would employ the principle of minimal intervention in achieving its intended goals, including meeting current accessibility standards, and using historically appropriate ‘noble’ materials.



DESIGN INTENT

The design development for the Lookout resolved longstanding grading issues and rendered the pathway accessible and inclusive for all. A set of retaining walls were introduced to mitigate the challenging site constraints, such as the height of the parapet walls, the stairway access to the existing fan room below, the existing grade of the escarpment pathway, and planting beds to the south. Today, the primary pathway remains accessible and inclusive to everyone; a separate pathway provides access to the fan room staircase north of the retaining wall. A series of planting beds soften the hard edges of the Lookout and deftly blend and transition the native plant palette of the Escarpment into the ordered planting of the Victoria Mound. Furthermore, the design improves the visitor experience by preventing crowding at the lower platform while maintaining and accentuating the key views.



The scope of work included: amelioration of grading, improved landscape treatments privileging planting and paving, trench drains, and retaining walls. The design was developed with the following considerations:

Employ Consistent and Noble Materials: Paving, walls, and plantings better complement the Perimeter Plateau and seamlessly blend into the overall composition of Parliament Hill.

Meet Life Safety Requirements: The design as executed is naturally accessible to and inclusive for all users.

Improve the Visitor Experience: The spatial organization of the Victoria Lookout recognizes and acknowledges that it is a key vantage point of the visitor experience on Parliament Hill. This is important both in the long term but especially during the restrictions of the current Centre Block rehabilitation.

Respect the Principle of Minimal Intervention: Following principles for heritage conservation, the work discreetly but deftly reinstates and upgrades the function of the Lookout, and enhances its iconic views.

The intent of this design was, in part, to respect the history and significance of the Victoria Lookout as a critical viewpoint to the Ottawa River from the context of Parliament Hill, while reinstating its essential layout and reinforce its position within the Perimeter Plateau. It also serves as an essential component in the visitor experience of Parliament Hill during the protracted period during which Centre Block is being rehabilitated.

Stakeholders were consulted throughout the conceptual and design development phases with a particular focus on respecting/enhancing heritage values and providing Universal Accessibility.

By all accounts, the design as executed for the Victoria Lookout has been appropriate, successful, and appreciated!

https://architecture49.com/en/blog/views...e-future-victoria-lookout-redevelopment/

[zzptichka]

Yeah it was done 5 or 6 years ago.

Could use some interpretive boards I would think.

[ponyboycurtis]

I never get tired of spending a bit of time here. Walk up the steps at York st. into Majors Hill Park, cut below the Chateau Laurier, walk behind Parliament and the Library and end up here. Prior to Kiwicki that would be a standard route I would recommend to any visitor.

Oh.. and do it as sunset approaches.

[Uhuniau]

Originally Posted by zzptichka

Yeah it was done 5 or 6 years ago.

Could use some interpretive boards I would think.

And a monument to the hill kitties.

[J.OT13]

CBC podcast on the Trompe l'Oeil:

https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-1...16191696-is-trompe-loeil-decorative-tarp

[urbanforest]

Snapped these yesterday. Scaffolding is up at the front of Centre Block on the left and right sides, and the giant hole in front is slowly disappearing; it's hard to tell in the photo but they've poured concrete columns up to about halfway to ground level.

[DarthVader_1961]

Originally Posted by urbanforest

Snapped these yesterday. Scaffolding is up at the front of Centre Block on the left and right sides, and the giant hole in front is slowly disappearing; it's hard to tell in the photo but they've poured concrete columns up to about halfway to ground level.

Hopefully another video will come out soon

[rocketphish]

Get ready to say goodbye to the Peace Tower's green roof
New brown copper could take decades to turn green again.

By Ben Andrews, Ottawa Citizen
Published Apr 16, 2026 | Last updated 4 hours ago

Behind a shroud of scaffolding, more than half of the copper on Parliament Hill’s Centre Block roof has now been removed as part of the ongoing multi-billion-dollar rehabilitation project that will soon leave the iconic Peace Tower topped with an unfamiliar colour for years to come.

Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC), the federal department overseeing the project, says construction work on the roof is well underway.

In an email, PSPC spokesperson Michèle Larose said the Centre Block rehabilitation project is “in process” of replacing the copper roof on Centre Block, including the central Peace Tower, though she did not say when work on the tower itself would begin.

“This new roof will take many years to oxidize and turn from brown to the green patina colour that is typically seen,” Larose said.

The rate at which copper develops its characteristic blue-green patina, a layer of corrosion due to oxidization, depends on local environmental conditions. It may take anywhere from five years to decades to form.

The government says the Centre Block rehabilitation is the “largest, most complex project to rehabilitate a heritage building ever in Canada.”

The work is being done to restore crumbling stonework, earthquake-proof the building, remove asbestos, replace outdated mechanical and electrical systems and build a new welcome centre.

Starting this summer, the Peace Tower will be covered in steel scaffolding and cloaked in a decorative wrap with images of the tower hidden underneath. The $4-million wrap is known as a trompe-l’œil, or trick of the eye, and is meant to mitigate negative effects on the local tourism industry.

As part of site preparation for the project, about 21,000 kilograms of copper will be removed so the roof can be rehabilitated and restored.

According to the government’s latest quarterly update, more than half of the total copper has already been removed and overall roof removal sits at about 30 per cent.

“That is equivalent to (16,021 kilograms) of copper available to be repurposed,” the update said.

Overall project cost and schedule are “progressing but experiencing challenges,” according to the update.

As of March 13, spending on the project had reached $1.66 billion out of a total estimated cost of $4.5 billion to $5 billion.

Replacement of the roof, including the Peace Tower roof, will continue “over the next few years,” LaRose said. Overall construction is expected to be completed between 2030 and 2031.

https://ottawacitizen.com/public-service/peace-tower-green-roof-parliament

[urbanforest]

There are areas of West Block’s newly restored stone walls that have been very badly stained by rainwater runoff from the copper roof. I also assume this accelerates degradation with ice in the winter. Really hope they can better avoid that with Centre Block.

[ponyboycurtis]

Originally Posted by urbanforest

There are areas of West Block’s newly restored stone walls that have been very badly stained by rainwater runoff from the copper roof. I also assume this accelerates degradation with ice in the winter. Really hope they can better avoid that with Centre Block.

I thought I noticed that but wasn't sure what was leftover from previous. It's not like they replaced all the stonework. I don't recall to what extent they went with the cleaning.

Regardless.. The green roof of the Parliament buildings are beyond iconic and worth every sacrifice made. Improvements to gutters and water collection could certainly be improved on as your pointing out.

[J.OT13]

• Video Link

[SL123]

^Really!!! We're putting a parking lot on each side of Parliament in this day and age!?!?!

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by SL123

^Really!!! We're putting a parking lot on each side of Parliament in this day and age!?!?!

That's disappointing. No parking should be around Parliament. At least the parking in the back is removed.