{"id":37170,"date":"2025-01-15T17:10:58","date_gmt":"2025-01-15T22:10:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/its-cuthemedev1.carleton.ca\/engineering-design\/?post_type=cu_story&p=37170"},"modified":"2025-03-24T15:29:05","modified_gmt":"2025-03-24T19:29:05","slug":"preserving-the-past-protecting-the-future-centre-blocks-restoration","status":"publish","type":"cu_story","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/engineering-design\/story\/preserving-the-past-protecting-the-future-centre-blocks-restoration\/","title":{"rendered":"Preserving the Past, Protecting the Future: Centre Block’s Restoration"},"content":{"rendered":"\n \n
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\n Preserving the Past, Protecting the Future: Centre Block’s Restoration\n <\/h1>\n \n <\/header>\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n\n \n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n \n

Ty Burke<\/em><\/p>\n \n \n

PSPC\/SPAC<\/em><\/p>\n \n

Parliament\u2019s Centre Block isn\u2019t just a building, it is an icon. Its sturdy stone fa\u00e7ade is a symbol of Canadian democracy. But the current structure was built in 1920, and a lot can change in a century. Back then, Canada didn\u2019t even have building codes, and climate control technology like air conditioning was still decades away from wide use. Bringing the historic building into the 21st century will be a big undertaking, and it is already well underway. Carleton engineering graduates are part of the team that is revitalizing Centre Block so it can serve Canadians for the next hundred years\u2014or even longer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Parliament Welcome Centre: Structural start of the crane base pour.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCentre Block is a very special structure, but it is an old building, and it predates any code requirements for seismic\u2014or even snow piling, for that matter,\u201d says Dan Carson, the lead structural engineer for the Centre Block restoration project. Carson has been with WSP<\/a> engineering, a partner in the joint venture lead design team CENTRUS, since 1978\u2014not long after he graduated from Carleton\u2019s Bachelor of Civil Engineering<\/a> and Master of Structural Engineering<\/a> programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The project will update Centre Block to meet all current code requirements and is also adding base isolators to protect it from potential earthquake damage. Base isolators are in fact large rubber elements installed beneath a building\u2019s foundation to act as shock absorbers. When the ground shakes, the base isolators bear the brunt of it, allowing the building above to sway slowly and escape major damage. The technology is rare in Canada but has been used in thousands of buildings in Japan, New Zealand and the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOttawa is an area of moderate seismicity, and it is not as active as some seismic zones, but there is a risk of earthquakes,\u201d says Carson. \u201cAnd Centre Block is an old, unreinforced stone masonry building. The base isolators help mitigate the risk associated with earthquakes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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The rehabilitation project plans to construct a new basement under Centre Block. \u201cA major excavation is required to facilitate this construction,\u201d says William Springle, a graduate of Carleton\u2019s Bachelor of Civil Engineering program who recently joined WSP to work on the project. \u201cEssentially, the building will be supported on piles while we excavate. You really get a sense of the scale of the project, and how unique it is.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

There are few parallels between Centre Block and the other projects Springle has worked on in the past. Modern structures are very orderly, with everything built according to plan. But in Centre Block, every element is unique. And that presents challenges both below ground level and above it. For Carson, integrating new systems like sprinklers, ducts, plumbing and wiring is like solving a giant puzzle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To make way for modern building systems, the structure of Centre Block needs to be modified. Many existing steel beams need to be cut to create space, and additional beams are needed to support parts of the building.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cRather than just getting rid of the old steel beams, we wanted to figure out how to reintegrate them into the building,\u201d says Yasmin Anderson, a graduate structural engineer on the Centre Block project and a graduate of Carleton\u2019s Bachelor of Engineering in Architectural Conservation and Sustainability Engineering<\/a>. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t just out of a desire to preserve the material for heritage reasons, but also for sustainability.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So, Anderson and her colleagues at CENTRUS cataloged all the existing beams, and the new beams that would need to be put in place. An algorithm calculates the different permutations of how to cut up old beams so that they\u2019d fit with structural demands.<\/p>\n

\u201cRe-purposing the existing materials reduces the amount of steel that we need for the project,\u201d says Anderson. \u201cWe figured out how to use the highest percentage of the metal removed from the building to get the most carbon savings. The initiative brings together a lot of the things that are important about this project\u2014cutting-edge technology, sustainability, and a heritage mindset.\u201d<\/p>\n

Centre Block is an enormous building, and supporting the structure during the renovations is an engineering feat in its own right. Construction on the current building began just a few months after the fire of 1916. \u201cIt burned in winter, and they were building by August of the same year. It happened very quickly by modern standards,\u201d says Anthony Urbisci, a structural designer with WSP and a graduate of Carleton\u2019s Bachelor of Civil Engineering and Master of Structural Engineering programs. To make way for modern infrastructure, the existing building needs to be supported. Urbisci is part of the team that reviews the design of temporary work required to do this. \u201cAs we take things apart and put them back together, we are maintaining the heritage nature of the building,\u201d he says. \u201cThe whole goal of this project is that by the time it\u2019s done, you won\u2019t notice that much of a difference.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Carleton University alumni from the Centre Block design team gather in front of the iconic Centennial Flame. From left to right: Angelica Tijssen, Melissa Brady, Hager Abdelrahman, Atena Mirshani, Tim Lobsinger, Sebastien Wooff, Anthony Urbisci, Dan Carson, William Springle, Meghan Potts, Kristen Balogh, Yasmin Anderson, Anastasiya Burchevska, Alexandra Chukwueke, Sepi Rajabzadeh, Khaled Zahlan. (Photo credit Angelica Tijssen)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Parliament\u2019s Centre Block isn\u2019t just a building, it is an icon. Its sturdy stone fa\u00e7ade is a symbol of Canadian democracy. But the current structure was built in 1920, and a lot can change in a century. Back then, Canada didn\u2019t even have building codes, and climate control technology like air conditioning was still decades away from wide use. Bringing the historic building into the 21st century will be a big undertaking, and it is already well underway. Carleton engineering graduates are part of the team that is revitalizing Centre Block so it can serve Canadians for the next hundred years\u2014or even longer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":37177,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"cu_story_type":[249,221,205,193,229],"cu_story_tag":[],"class_list":["post-37170","cu_story","type-cu_story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","cu_story_type-alumni","cu_story_type-architectural-conservation-and-sustainability-engineering","cu_story_type-civil-engineering","cu_story_type-feature-stories","cu_story_type-lead-feature-story"],"acf":{"cu_post_thumbnail":"blueprint"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/engineering-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/37170","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/engineering-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/engineering-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/cu_story"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/engineering-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/engineering-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/37170\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37198,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/engineering-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/37170\/revisions\/37198"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/engineering-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37177"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/engineering-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37170"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"cu_story_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/engineering-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_type?post=37170"},{"taxonomy":"cu_story_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/engineering-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_tag?post=37170"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}