Revised Development Proposed for Strutt-Designed CNA Headquarters at 50 The Driveway

Above: Rendering by HOBIN Architecture. Below: Original 1967 building designed by architect James Strutt.

Tuesday, February 8, 2022

HERITAGE OTTAWA

Heritage Ottawa has been closely following the proposal to redevelop the Canadian Nurses Association (CNA) headquarters at 50 The Driveway in the Golden Triangle, next to the Rideau Canal in Centretown.

Excellent Example of Modern Style

The site, which includes the distinctive modernist headquarters building, is the subject of a development proposal for a nine storey luxury condominium building.

In the mid-1960s the CNA selected distinguished Ottawa architect James Strutt (1924-2008), with Inigo Adamson, from among seven reputable firms to design a new national headquarters. It was opened with much fanfare by the Governor General, Roland Michener, in 1967.

The original building is irregular in plan with ribbed façades and features a unique six-metre tall concrete and glass lantern on the top storey. The lantern's geometric twist provides a sense of movement and connects the building to James Strutt’s broader interest in dynamic geometric forms. An addition was added to the south side of the building in 1987.

Inside, an open foyer at the base of the lantern featured a band of smooth grey slate with four murals in sunken relief depicting the story of nursing were sculpted, according to an article in The Canadian Nurse in 1967, by Eleanor Milne, former Dominion Stone Carver of Canada.

Proposed development

The development proposal calls for demolishing the 1987 addition, moving the east façade of the original structure closer to the property line with the NCC parkland along the Queen Elizabeth Driveway, and constructing a nine-storey glass and steel tower on the rest of the lot. The distinctive lantern is to be moved to the top of the new tower, nine storeys away.

Concern has been expressed that the development proposal does not respect the inventiveness of the Strutt-designed building, with its use of precast cladding, clever main entrance stairs, and its singular form. There is also resistance to the height and mass of the proposed building in an area zoned for four storeys and immediately adjacent to the Rideau Canal UNESCO World Heritage Site.

A site plan application has been submitted to the City along with an Official Plan and Zoning By-law Amendment application.