This $425M award-winning restoration preserved the stunning heritage character of the 180 Wellington Building. The building, originally constructed in 1927 for the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, now provides modern offices and meeting spaces for Members of Parliament.
The 180 Wellington Building consists of a 7 storey above grade structure, complete with two subgrade levels, located between Wellington Street and Sparks Street and to the East of Bank Street. The existing building was constructed in two phases, where the first was constructed in 1927 and the second in 1959. The principal driver of this project was the heritage protection and considerations necessary to protect, preserve, repair and reinforce the heritage defining elements of the building as well as seismic upgrades to the base building structure.
The 180 Wellington project is part of the Long Term Vision and Plan (LTVP) for the Parliamentary Precinct. More specifically, the 180 Wellington Building has been designated as a swing space for the House of Commons over the next 10 to 20 years to accommodate the 25 year LTVP on Parliament Hill where the West Block, East Block and Center Block will be rehabilitated. The 180 Wellington Building has a direct line of site to Parliament Hill.
Adjeleian Allen Rubeli Limited (AAR) completed the project not only as the structural engineer of record, but also undertook the roles of heritage structural engineer as well as demolition structural engineer. The multiple roles undertaken by AAR’s office allowed for a well-coordinated project and streamlined approach to the various structural challenges encountered during the design and construction phases.
The structural scope of work included demolition of the central core from foundation to roof, which was tied-in to the existing structure at each level. Part of the principal structural scope was to upgrade the existing structure to 100% of the National Building Code requirement. In addition to meeting 100% of the 2005 NBCC seismic requirements, other programming elements had to be incorporated into the structural design to ensure a fully functional building. Such considerations included large column free areas, as well as the protection of heritage designated and heritage character defining elements.
The new reinforced concrete core and reinforced concrete shearwalls act as the lateral force resisting system to join all individual original structures into one final structure. In addition, multiple other modifications were made outside the building core such as new reinforced concrete shearwalls, slab infills, slab openings for stairs, escalators and elevators, as well as numerous structural steel modifications to both the 1927 and 1959 structures.
This project was recently awarded the 2015 Consulting Engineers of Ontario Award of Merit for Building Engineering and Science and was featured in the December 2015 Canadian Consulting Engineer magazine.