The conversation regarding 24 Sussex’s future makes recent headlines (again!) in a series of recent articles published in the Globe and Mail.
As described in the Globe and Mail article from December 2022 by Ian Bailey “There have been cases made for revamping 24 Sussex Drive. One proposal (2017), by the Ottawa architecture firm MTBA Associates, (now TRACE architectures) called for an overhaul (radical rehabilitation & conservation) of the house and the addition of a secondary (net zero carbon) building that would provide offices, meeting space and dining space for the official needs of the prime minister.”
Albeit a proposal TRACE presented over 5 years ago, the conversation of the future of 24 Sussex continues to be a political conversation about the cost of conserving the late 1880’s lumber baron home. Estimated by the National Capital Commission (NCC), a complete rehabilitation of the property, after numerous years of neglect would sit at around a $36M price tag.
In 2015 the RAIC (Royal Architectural Institute of Canada) issued a statement regarding the imminent threat to the residence and action required by the government, to address the “People’s House.” Resolving these matters has been left unresolved since, and the property placed further into disrepair. Rehabilitating the 1800’s cottage or building a new residence have both been feasible options discussed by architectural and conservation professionals.
The conversation for a newly built residence for the country’s prime minister is not a new topic. The requirements for a new residence should include functions for both home residences and an on-site meeting space for diplomatic visitors, a basic necessity for the Prime Minister of a G7 Country.
TRACE’s 2017 proposal met these modern requirements while getting the “best of both worlds” by preserving the original building and building a compatible contemporary “official wing” with Zero-Carbon sustainability performance. Demolishing the building would represent a loss to both Canadian built heritage and a significant amount of embodied carbon wasted.
Finding the solution to what seems to be a never-ending conversation about the building’s future, will continue to become a larger problem to tackle with every passing year the property remains vacant. In the interests of i) the existing built heritage, promoting Canadian accomplishments, ii) helping save the environment and, iii) of placing the PM of a G7 Country in a place they can best function within modern demands and requirements, time is of the essence.
“Instead, we found the value in the existing, leveraged embodied energy and embodied carbon, and returned the place to what it was primarily intended to be, through all its years of changes over time: A single-family home.” – Mark Thompson Brandt, Founding Partner at TRACE
As the Globe and Mail’s January 4th editorial suggests, let’s not let politics get in the way of Canada doing the right thing. Go green, conserve both natural and cultural assets and execute a great updated single-family home and a great net-zero carbon new official facility to serve our nation properly.
The 2017 Concept Proposal
Video Fly Thru' of model
24 SUSSEX REVITALIZATION
Re-energizing a landmark through dialogue and plurality within a new official wing.
