181 Queen Street - Base Building

This project consists of a new building owned by Morguard Investments Limited. The main tenant will be CBC Radio Canada, with an area of 13,297m². The total building area is 37,655m². CBC's areas consist of radio and television studios and an administration area. Located in the heart of downtown Ottawa bordering Sparks Street and Queen Street, the building consists of 12 storeys and three levels of underground parking. The main structure is cast-in-place concrete with a mix of precast, brick and curtainwall systems to the exterior envelope.   The new home for the CBC rising on Sparks Street aims to make the source of that programming transparent, with a street level window onto the live action of a one-acre newsroom.  The Sparks Street site will consolidate all 700 Ottawa CBC employees under one roof.  It will bring together eight news services and 200 editorial staff in a single newsroom to produce national and regional programs for radio, TV, Web and wireless technology, in English and French.  The framework of the 11-storey structure between Bank St. and O'Connor Street in downtown Ottawa, has been built.  Construction of the exterior cladding is next with completion expected in March of 2004.  The CBC has signed a 20 year lease in the office tower, including new equipment and interior layout, finishes and furnishings to all of their tenant fit-up.  It will occupy the bottom four floors, about 120,000 square feet.  The Federal Department of Public Works has leased the rest of the building for 460 employees of the House of Commons Informatics Service.  The 270,000 square foot building is clad with blue-green glass, grey pre-cast concrete, and reddish-brown clay brick.  The Queen Street side on the south is detailed with pilasters and a big swath of glass.  It provides a formal entrance into a lobby that features a floor mosaic depicting a map of Canada.  The Sparks Street side to the north was designed to meet various constraints.  The National Capital Commission designed to meet various constraints.  The National Capital Commission design committee suggested a brick façade to blend with nearby older buildings.  Upper storeys terrace back to comply with City of Ottawa height restrictions and sun angles, calculated to bring sunshine into the mall.  The signature element of the design is a bank of 12-foot-high transparent windows at ground level, affording views into radio and TV studios and the newsroom.  Passersby will see newscasters presenting the news, radio hosts on air in glass booths, and reporters writing or conducting interviews.  About 120 people will work on a ground floor, open-concept space, and another 70 or 80 on a mezzanine overlooking the newsroom.  The total newsroom space, including mezzanine and technical facilities such as studios, sets, and radio editing booths, is about 43, 000 square feet.  The building has 192 underground parking stalls and a 1,500 square foot space where it will be rented to a food vendor.