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96 | AUGUST 2015 Sir John A. Macdonald Building Extra excavation of the basement was required for proper service space. "Because this area wasn't seismically reinforced, we had to provide a lot of shoring and engineered cribbing," says Brownlee. Work crews also had to pour the new foundation below the water table, which meant laying down waterproofing first, then installing the forms and then pouring against the waterproofing. Bronze was a major interior and exterior renovation material, and Cyrus Mosun, vice chair of Soheil Mosun Limited, estimates that "we went through several hundred thousand pounds of bronze, easily, for column covers, hand- rails, posts – you name it." A gauge of 3/4-inch bronze plate was used for window frames and major door entrances. "And some interior door frames of solid bronze plate had to be machined in order to accommodate hardware and security components," says Mosun. CAD modelling and close consultation with other trades was vital in ensuring that the thousands of bronze components fitted exactly with the other building elements. DiMillo says a construction manage- ment approach to the project allowed for work packages to be tendered and started while design was ongoing. "The delivery of the project required a solid, co-ordi- nated effort by NORR and EllisDon," he says. Other trades had to be at the top of their game: Swallow Acoustic Consultants Ltd., for example, designed acoustic solu- tions for the original hard-surface interior, changing what was originally a high- speech privacy banking area into a high- speech intelligibility meeting hall that can accommodate hundreds of guests. DiMillo goes on to note, "Audio visual solutions were remarkable. For exam- ple, we didn't want to cut holes in the beautiful ceiling of the main building to conceal projection screens, so instead NORR came up with the idea of hang- ing the screens from cables running through existing pot lights, connected to motors located above the ornate ceil- ing and out of view, for raising and low- ering when required." In order to create an in-floor cooling system appropriate for the increased volume of visitors without destroying the intricately-patterned marble of the origi- nal building, perimeter flooring was dug up and a series of pipes were installed. "These were the former teller areas that were merely carpeted, and when the installation was done EllisDon installed beautiful terrazzo floors," says DiMillo. During the rehabilitation, a stone carv- ing featuring the Bank of Montreal's coat of arms supported by two Aboriginals was uncovered by stonemasons; it was sub- sequently dated to be from the 1870s and sent to the Canadian Museum of History for future research and possible display. On June 15 of this year, the com- pleted Sir John A. Macdonald building was unveiled to the public; it will soon host ceremonial events and large meet- ings for Parliament, with the lobby and its fantastic view through to Parliament Hill serving as a gathering space. Although the renovation team has no end of adjectives to describe its enthu- siasm for the finished facility, Mosun summarizes the project best by stat- ing, "There were no compromises and everyone gave their best. I've worked on renovation projects internationally, and I would put the quality of this building on par with the very best in the world." A PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY PUBLIC WORKS AND GOVERNMENT SERVICES CANADA

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