The owners of the Fairmont Chateau Laurier, Larco Investments, are making another pitch to the public about their proposed expansion to the iconic hotel.
Past attempts have proven unpopular, with proposed designs facing significant backlash.
The goal is to eventually build more hotel rooms at the rear of the hotel, where the rotting parking garage stood. The City approved an application to destroy the rusty, dilapidated garage in January of 2018.
In June of 2018, City Council gave the go-ahead to build an addition to the heritage hotel, with a condition that the design be more visually compatible with what stands now. Heritage rules prevent designers from just copying the existing design, so the conditional approval aimed to strike a balance: the new design does not necessarily need to be a Chateau-style building, according to the City, but nor will it copy the exact elements from the existing hotel.
The architectural goal of this project is to build a new addition that is subordinate to the existing heritage building so that the designated building continues to define that historic character of the property within its contemporary context. This is consistent with Council-adopted the Standards and Guidelines for the Conservation of Historic Places in Canada (link is external) which state: "Conserve the heritage value and character-defining elements when creating any new additions to an historic place or any related new construction. Make the new work physically and visually compatible with, subordinate to and distinguishable from the historic place." - City of Ottawa.
The latest design reduces the number of new rooms to 147, from 164 in the original proposal. The asymmetrical design includes more Indiana limestone, in columns cladding eastern and western pavilions. A glass-clad space connects the two pavilions. Larco says the design also includes new exterior pathways, interior corridors, entrances and publicly accessible spaces, including a courtyard and a staircase that links to the Rideau Canal terraces.
The City is accepting comments on the new design until March 18. Comments can be made by emailing chateaulaurier@ottawa.ca
View of Chateau Laurier expansion from the Parliamentary Precinct (Larco Investments via City of Ottawa)
View of the Chateau Laurier expansion from Colonel By Monument Statue in Major’s Hill Park (Larco Investments via City of Ottawa)
View of Chateau Laurier expansion from Mackenzie Avenue (Larco Investments via City of Ottawa)