Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/734400
OCTOBER 2016 | 69 CF Rideau Centre EXTERIOR PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY CADILLAC FAIRVIEW CORPORATION LTD.; INTERIOR PHOTOGRAPHY BY YVES LEFEBVRE/COURTESY PROVENCHER_ROY CF Rideau Centre by PETER STENNING T hree years and $360 million may seem like a huge investment for any developer to commit to retail, but the revitalization and expansion of Ottawa's 30-year old CF Rideau Centre is no ordinary makeover. From the outset, Cadillac Fairview intended the project to accomplish several lofty goals. "We wanted to elevate the shopping experience as well as repatriate the Rideau streetscape and incorporate the heritage facade of a former Ogilvy department store building into our expansion," explains Sebastian Greenall, senior VP, architecture and design, for Cadillac Fairview. The undertaking would require a small army of professionals. BBB Architects Ottawa Inc. was tasked with repatriating Rideau Street and the mall exterior; it was joined by B+H Architects; GH+A Design; Archifin Group Inc./Frank G. McGrath, architect (now Provencher_Roy); construction managers Construction C.A.L. Inc.; PCL Constructors Canada Inc.; and a host of other talent. When it first opened for business in 1983, CF Rideau Centre was an instant success, with millions visiting the mall annually. By the time Cadillac Fairview acquired the property in 2010, Ottawa's downtown core was rapidly evolving to accommodate upscale retail businesses – making a comprehensive upgrade a necessity. The project kicked off with the April, 2013 demolition by PCL of the former Ogilvy department store adjacent to the mall. Heritage architect Barry Padolsky presided over the cleaning, sorting and storage of the heritage facade, windows and other features. "The idea was to reassemble these elements in a new structural concrete frame that would be capped by a modern structural glass top," says BBB Architects Ottawa Inc. founder Ritchard Brisbin. To which Greenall adds, "Behind the Ogilvy site was a ground level parking lot, and in the spirit of making the best use of land, that lot would be the area of our expansion that would connect to the reinstated Ogilvy building heritage facade." Eventually, BBB Ottawa would create a spectacular expansion main entrance of angled metal reminiscent of a hockey stick beside the Ogilvy building heritage facade; further along, the mall facade would be augmented by Time's Shadow, a stunning, 11,000-square- foot glass triptych representing the changing of the seasons, created by artist Catherine Widgery. GH+A and Archifin's main objective in addressing the existing centre interior was to remedy what GH+A project director Joni Vallon refers to as the outdated retail experience of "turning one's back to the outside." She says, "We wanted to open up the fairly dark, artificially-lit walkways and shops and allow natural light to flood in." This proved to be an enormous task, as most of the existing facades were precast with not many windows out to LOCATION 50 Rideau Street, Ottawa, Ontario OWNER/DEVELOPER Cadillac Fairview Corporation Ltd. ARCHITECTS Archifin Group Inc. / Frank G. McGrath, architect – now Provencher_Roy (mall and dining hall/renovation architect) BBB Architects Ottawa Inc. (streetscape repatriation and exterior) B+H Architects (expansion architects) Barry Padolsky Associates Inc. (heritage architect) CONSTRUCTION MANAGER PCL Constructors Canada Inc. (expansion) GENERAL CONTRACTOR Construction C.A.L. Inc. (renovation) STRUCTURAL CONSULTANTS Adjeleian Allen Rubeli Ltd. (renovation) Cleland Jardine (local consultant/expansion) Entuitive Corporation (expansion) MECHANICAL CONSULTANT TMP Consulting Engineers (expansion) MECHANICAL/ ELECTRICAL CONSULTANT Smith + Andersen (renovation) ELECTRICAL CONSULTANT Hammerschlag & Hoffe Inc. INTERIOR DESIGN CONSULTANT GH+A Design (renovation, expansion) GEOTECHNICAL CONSULTANT Paterson Group (expansion) LIGHTING DESIGN CONSULTANT Gabriel Mackinnon Lighting Design TOTAL SIZE 230,000 square feet (new retail space in expansion) TOTAL COST $360 million (renovation and expansion) the street. However, the retailers who would occupy the renovated facility and the expansion quickly embraced the idea of massive street-front glazing to entice shoppers to come inside. Archifin and Construction C.A.L. transformed a former three-storey Sears store to not only accommodate retailer Nordstrom but also create a 35,000-square-foot dining hall with 16 eating establishments on the ground floor. Opened in August 2015 (and previously featured in Award Magazine), this area elevates the food court experience through vendor placement, seating arrangements and the use of high-calibre materials. Archifin and GH+A tackled the existing mall renovation as well as the expansion interior, and Frank G. McGrath, president of the former firm, reveals some secrets of effective mall redesign: "In addition to admitting as much natural light as possible, it was important to use a palette of whites and off whites for the interior surfaces – that way, it would make the huge public concourses seem bright, and put emphasis on storefronts, which is what every retailer wants." This palette was augmented by quartz floors; enhanced lighting designed and installed by Gabriel Mackinnon Lighting Design; upgraded washrooms; and new 11:54 AM1:54 PM