THA attended the National Capital Commission’s Urbanism Lab and Ideas Forum in Ottawa. This 2-day event provided seminars, symposiums, forums, workshops and webinars that convened planners, policy makers, lawyers, engineers, architects, non-profit and social service leaders, community organizers, developers and academics to learn and collaborate on a diverse range of urban policy issues. This forum explored reuse and renewal, the design and the economics of historic places. The event created an exceptional opportunity for informed, high-quality conversation among city-builders to work toward solutions for the built environment that balance human, ecological and economic impacts.
February 14: Thematic presentations:
Three practitioners presented important recent projects as exemplars for adaptive reuse:
Bernard Serge Gagné of ABCP Architecture discussed the 17th century Monastère des Augustines in Québec City, interventions and public experience of sacred space as urban context.
Laura Waldie, senior planner for heritage, City of Cambridge, spoke about the Galt Post Office public private adaptive reuse project and the Cambridge waterfront.
Tom Morrison, PhD (Engineering), and principal engineer at Heritage Standing Inc., Fredericton, N.B. discussed the power of small building projects to transform communities.
February 15: Ideas Forum
Provided opportunity for those working in heritage conservation to come together and continue the conversation to explore the following themes: values beyond traditional heritage values, adaptive reuse and sustainability, and the economics of adaptive reuse. Partnering agencies included Carleton University, The National Trust for Canada, Heritage Ottawa, and Réseau du Patrimoine de Gatineau et de l’Outaouais.
