Vincent Massey Park Buildings Rehabilitation

Ottawa, Ontario

National Capital Commission

Vincent Massey Park was originally created in the 1950s as part of the NCC’s expansion of urban parks in the Capital. The park is approximately 22 hectares in size and has a number of buildings that are critical to the support of social gatherings in a large regional park.

The refreshment stand, pavilions and bus shelter are part of the group of buildings designed by Ottawa architect Hart Massey, and for which he received the silver medal of the prestigious Massey Awards for architecture in 1958. Their pure forms and floating roofs supported by minimalist columns are typical of the modernist aesthetics of the time. These two pavilions, carefully balanced with their natural setting, mark the entrance to the park.

Our firm was retained to rehabilitate the existing heritage structures, the concession pavilion, bus shelter and entrance pavilion, as well as to undertake site rehabilitation, enabling several further generations of use.

The result has been:

• high functionality for users;

• ease and low cost of maintenance/operations;

• resilience and durability;

• universal accessibility;

• environmental sustainability;

• improvement of the pathway network;

• enhanced functionality and efficiency of park activities and programs to reflect current and future use; and

• a sense of arrival/departure from the road.

The old refreshment pavilion has been stripped back to its original state. Massey's hexagonal tree-form canopies have been carefully restored, and repainted in their 1950s orange and red colour scheme. A highly acclaimed modernist masterwork has been restored.

Awards:

Ottawa Architectural Conservation Awards - Vincent Massey Park