HERITAGE OTTAWA

The Strutt House, an important modernist building in the Ottawa region designed in 1956 by architect James Strutt, will be benefiting from a conservation grant from The Getty Foundation in California.

The Strutt Foundation is one of 14 international recipients of the Getty's prestigious Keeping It Modern Architectural Conservation Grants for 2015. The grants were created in 2014 to complement the Getty Conservation Institute's Conserving Modern Architecture Initiative (CMAI), which has been playing a major role in conservation of the 1949  Eames House and Studio designed by Charles and Ray Eames.

A summary on the Getty's website states that "James Strutt used the development of his own home outside of Ottawa to push the boundaries of geometric design and construction systems, launching a career-long exploration of how to achieve maximum structural strength through minimal, lightweight materials. The house displays a deceptively simple combination of architectural design and building science, including its undulating wooden paraboloid roof which was the first of its kind in Canada. The house was also among the first in the country to use a curtain wall building technique that relieved exterior walls from the burden of structural support to create elegant expanses of uninterrupted glass."

A Getty grant will support the establishment of a conservation plan that incorporates extensive research about the building's materials, its ground-breaking curtain wall feature, and the investigation of potential leaks in its envelope through thermographic analysis and air-pressure testing."

Titania Truesdale, managing director of the Fondation STRUTT Foundation states that additional funding will be required for the implementation of the conservation plan, which will also include sustainable long-term programming for the site. "We wish to thank Heritage Ottawa for being one of our Strutt House Project champions from day one, and especially Leslie Maitland for her advice along the way" stated Ms. Truesdale.

Other prestigious beneficiaries of this year's Keeping It Modern grant include the 1938 Gropius House in Lincoln, Massachusetts designed by Bauhaus founder Walter Gropius, the 1924 Rietveld Schröder House in The Netherlands, the 1904 Hill House in Scotland designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh, and the 1908 Unity Temple in Oak Park, Illinois designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.

Heritage Ottawa warmly congratulates the Strutt Foundation and managing director Titania Truesdale for this prestigious international recognition. Ms. Truesdale is a past winner of Heritage Ottawa's Gordon Cullingham Publication and Research Grant.

Earlier this week, NCC CEO Mark Kristmanson announced that the Strutt House will be preserved, rehabilitated and opened as a public pavilion in time for Canada's 150th birthday celebrations in 2017. The NCC has signed a formal lease with the STRUTT Foundation which will both oversee the work and take charge of fundraising for the project.

Donations for preservation of The Strutt House can be made via the Strutt Foundation website at struttfoundation.ca.

 

Click here for details of all 14 "Keeping It Modern" grant recipients for 2015. 

For more information about the Getty Foundation and the Keeping It Modern grant initiative, click here to see their press release.