Designs for Lansdowne 2.0 critiqued as city prepares for building permit

It's set to be an important year for Lansdowne 2.0. Ottawa city council will be asked to give its final go-ahead on a new arena and new football stands, likely in October.

Leading up to that pricey decision — latest estimates put the project at $419 million but the auditor general has warned it could be higher — there are many yards left to run. An important one is on March 31, the council-approved deadline for applying for a building permit so construction can fall under the outgoing Ontario building code.

With that clock ticking, the team leading the Lansdowne project needs to finalize detailed designs and the site's layout and landscaping: the site plan. The team is still in consultation mode — it has invited the public to attend sessions about the north side stands and says it's still open to feedback. 

That said, Lansdowne 2.0's design has already received a lot of feedback from experts, and not all of it is good. And several things that have been flagged likely won't be modified.

Planning documents show that at various stages over the past nine months, everyone from city staff across multiple departments to the city's own advisory panel of architects have called for a few major revisions.

The urban design review panel, for instance, expressed "serious concerns about circulation around the site." It questioned the use of some materials. It's recommended the new municipal structures need a "unified design dialogue", and need to connect with the historic Aberdeen Pavilion and Rideau Canal.

Pinch point for Para Transpo, pedestrians, deliveries

When it comes to Lansdowne 2.0, the City of Ottawa is wearing two hats. 

It's the developer, working with partner Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group (OSEG), consultants and architects to submit an application. Meanwhile, other city employees in various departments do their usual reviews and give feedback.

Ultimately, it's up to the planning department to sign off on the site plan, which the project's acting director Sean Moore says is likely to happen in March.

Some concerns have shown up repeatedly though, including the pinch point.

The future arena will be built beyond the current field's end zone, on parkland where a berm now exists.. 

According to the documents, the idea is for up to to 6,500 spectators (down from current 9,800 capacity) to use the future building's front doors only. The project team wrote that those front doors were stress-tested and can deal with a sold-out crowd exiting, but people will also leave through the building's patio and terrace exits.  

To get to the front doors, however, most people will pass between a future tower and the Aberdeen Pavilion. And it's not just people: Lansdowne 2.0's site plan also calls for Para Transpo vehicles to drop off passengers there, and for delivery vehicles to use loading docks.

In various documents, city staff and the advisory panel raise concerns and ask if the loading zone can be relocated closer to Bank Street, and farther from the pedestrian plaza.

"The panel has major concerns with the proponent's concept for a communal gathering point located directly adjacent to a circulation pinch-point with a loading and servicing ramp," wrote the panel in preliminary comments last summer. Putting a loading zone and gathering point side-by-side presented "a major conflict," it said.

"Acknowledged," was the response.

The Lansdowne project's lead, Sean Moore, explained to CBC News the loading dock won't be relocated. He says the existing location is ideal.

"We can have a truck come down, load to the new north side stands and then also load adjacent to the new event centre," he says. "That has a big cost savings to keep that loading dock in its existing location to serve both new facilities."

The Lansdowne team planned that whole area with pedestrians and accessibility in mind, he says. People already flood out of the stadium's Gate 4 from a Redblacks without a problem, Moore says. 

Aluminum wood

The urban design review panel and city staff have also had lots of questions about the materials being used.

The panel said the city could aim much higher than asphalt for the ring road around the park's "great lawn" where festivals are often held. It suggested a more permeable material. The project team has responded that asphalt is there now and more heavy-duty.

The design panel also regretted that city council decided it couldn't afford a live green roof. Instead, Lansdowne 2.0 will go with a PVC membrane that Moore says will be a green patina colour in a nod to the Parliament Buildings. The panel does support it being a green colour over white, which was the other choice. 

Meanwhile, renderings of the events centre show it clad in what looks like wood. It's not.

"The aluminum cladding with wood pattern needs to be studied in the built context to ensure that it is sufficiently elevated for this significant historic site," wrote the urban design review panel in October, adding real wood has warmth and is more sustainable.

Moore says the aluminum wood look for the arena was chosen because of what happened to the wood "veil" on the south-side stands built over a decade ago.

"There was an expectation of having this rich, dark wood colour that obviously faded," said Moore. The idea of using aluminum panels with a wood grain that might keep their vibrant colour came out of discussions with architects. 

The city hopes the aluminum will weather better and be easier to wash and maintain without having to re-stain it, Moore added.

Just as you would choose a countertop for a kitchen renovation, the project team has so far only looked at small samples on a table. 

Moore says the team plans to hold up wall samples at Lansdowne and choose the right appearance of wood grain that can relate well to the Aberdeen Pavilion. 

Integrating a prize-winning park

There will be a whole lot of that aluminum panelling on the side of the events centre that looks directly out on the Aberdeen Pavilion and the park. 

That big blank wall with its washroom doors should be avoided, urged city reviewers and the urban design review panel.

"The proposed event centre should activate and animate the main public plaza in front of the Aberdeen Pavilion," wrote staff in March.

But the Lansdowne 2.0 team said the two-storey opaque wall was designed for functional reasons — there are staircases behind — and it might be a good spot for public art.

Still, the design panel has repeatedly reminded the team that Lansdowne 1.0 won an international award for its landscape design, and the great lawn should remain as large as possible. 

"Integrating this new event centre building into the existing award-winning landscape scheme should be paramount," the panel wrote in July.

"Acknowledged," came the official response.

Moore points out the great lawn will still fit the same size of festival.

North side stands

The new north side stands won't have any roof at all, a decision city council made facing rising costs.

This week's public consultations focus on those stadium stands rather than the events centre, and far fewer documents have so far been posted for the public.

The urban design review panel did weigh in on the stands in early December, and several comments suggest it thinks more work is needed on that design, too.

The Lansdowne team was asked to "think about the 'family of components'" and said the design should "establish a dialogue" among the north stands, arena and existing south stands.

The same goes for how the north stands will fit with the retail space. The panel urged "harmonious integration" and a "strong connection to the cultural heritage of Lansdowne."

It also pointed out some back-of-house areas, including an area 18 metres wide, should have public access rather than act as a service zone.

Target for construction tender

Residents can visit Lansdowne for an open house Wednesday evening, while would-be bidders will get their own tour in the morning so they can get ready to compete for the contract.

If all goes according to plan, Moore says the City of Ottawa will tender the construction in June. That means staff will be ready to present to council a final price, and a winning construction consortium, by fall.

The events centre will be built first, followed by the north side stands a couple years later. The residential tower development would only start after 2030.

Moore says the project team is listening to the comments and will make small adjustments it thinks are meaningful.

He points to 2023, when the urban design review panel spoke out about the original concept with its three towers instead of the current two. 

"We made some very large moves based on their comments," Moore says now. "That whole tower came out, which gave the Aberdeen Pavilion much more breathing space, that whole entry into the event centre more breathing space."