Report to/Rapport au :
Local Architectural Conservation Advisory Committee
Comité consultatif sur la conservation de
l'architecture locale
and / et
Planning and Environment Committee
Comité de l'urbanisme et de
l'environnement
and Council / et au Conseil
16 December 2003 / le 16 décembre
2003
Submitted by/Soumis par : Ned Lathrop, General Manager/Directeur général,
Development Services/Services
d'aménagement
Contact Person/Personne
ressource : Grant Lindsay, Manager / Gestionnaire
Development Approvals /Approbation des demandes
d'aménagement
(613) 580-2424 x13242, grant.lindsay@ottawa.ca
REPORT RECOMMENDATION
That the Local Architectural Conservation Advisory Committee recommend that Planning and Environment Committee recommend that Council approve the application to alter the Graham House, 193 Lansdowne Road, in accordance with the plans filed by Julian Smith, Architect, received on November 20, included as Document 2.
(Note: Approval to Alter this property under the Ontario Heritage Act must not be construed to meet the requirements for the issuance of a building permit.)
RECOMMANDATION DU RAPPORT
Que le Comité consultatif sur la conservation de l'architecture locale
recommande au Comité de l'urbanisme et de l'environnement d'approuver la
demande de modification de la Maison Graham, au 193, chemin Lansdowne, en vertu
des plans ci-joints (document 2), soumis le 20 novembre par l'architecte Julian
Smith.
(Nota : L'approbation de modification de la propriété, en vertu de la Loi
sur le patrimoine de l'Ontario, ne peut être interprétée comme satisfaisant aux
exigences de la délivrance d'un permis de construction.)
BACKGROUND
The entire former Village of Rockcliffe Park was designated as a heritage conservation district under the Ontario Heritage Act in 1997. This report has been prepared because the consent of City Council is required before an alteration to a building included on the list of significnat buildings compiled by the former Village of Rockcliffe Park within the heritage conservation district can proceed. The Graham House, 193 Lansdowne Road, is included on the list of significant buildings within the former Village of Rockcliffe Park.
DISCUSSION
The Village of Rockcliffe Park Heritage Conservation District Study contains guidelines that are intended "to protect and enhance those elements in the Village that contribute to the definition of heritage character." The Guidelines make it clear that they are not intended to be prescriptive, rather they are intended to apply the design ideals that have contributed to the design evolution of the former Village in the past in order to perpetuate the image of Rockcliffe Park as a picturesque landscape characterized by large houses on large lots, surrounded by informal grounds with large trees and shrubs to define edges.
Specifically, the Guidelines stress that
4. Any application to construct a new building or addition should be reviewed, with consideration of its potential to enhance the heritage character of the Village. New construction should be recommended for approval only where the siting, form, materials and detailing are sympathetic to the surrounding natural and cultural environment.
5. New buildings and additions should be of their own time, but should also harmonize with the existing cultural landscape. They should be sited and designed so as to retain the existing topography. The use of natural materials should be encouraged.
The Graham House, 193 Landsowne Road, was designed by architect John Roper and constructed in 1937 for the Graham family. It is a two storey, hipped roof structure with an attic, constructed of rough cut stone, laid in irregular courses. The house is Georgian Revival, typical of the style as expressed in the 1920s and 1930s across Canada. Features of the house that associate it with the style include a symmetrical front facade with a cornice, sidelights and transom, hipped roof, exaggerated cornice, and eyebrow dormer.
The proposed interventions to the building incude: the construction of a one storey addition with a small conservatory above on the west facade, the extension of the existing sunroom on the east facade to the rear and its winterization for year-round use and the construction of a two storey addition to the south (rear) facade. The additions will be sheathed in wood, painted white. The large new windows of the living room, conservatory and sunroom extension will be wooden and their fenestration pattern will echo the sidelights of the front door. The new windows in the rear addition will also use the sidelights as their inspiration.
The Heritage Sub-committee of the Rockcliffe Park Residents Association reviewed the building proposed for 193 Lansdowne Road at a meeting that was also attended by the building's architect, Julian Smith. At that meeting, the architect outlined the plans for the building in detail. Questions regarding the materials to be used, details of the design and the function of various parts of the house were also discussed. The Review Group supported the interventions proposed for the house as they are sympathetic to its heritage character and preserved and enhanced key elements of its design and setting, such as its wide front lawn, use of white-painted wood, and 1930s Georgian style.
The Graham House is a well known local landmark. The Development Services Department supports this application to alter because the additions are sympathetic to the design of the house in expression and material, they do not overwhelm its character and because they will enhance the character of the streetscape in this part of Rockcliffe Park.
CONSULTATION
Adjacent property owners and residential tenants were notified by letter of the date of the LACAC and Planning and Environment Committee meetings and were provided with comment sheets to be returned to LACAC.
The Rockcliffe Park Residents Association was informed of the project and the Heritage Sub-committee of the Association commented favourably on the proposal.
Councillor Jacques Legendre is aware of this project.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
N/A
SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION
Document 1 Location Map
Document 2 - Site Plan
Document 3 - Elevations
DISPOSITION
The Department of Corporate Services, Council and Committee Services Branch, to notify the applicant/ agent (Julian Smith Architect, 342 MacLaren Street, Ottawa, Ontario, K2P 0M6) and the Ontario Heritage Foundation (10 Adelaide Street, 3rd Floor, Toronto, Ontario, M5C 1J3) of City Council's consent to construct additions to the Graham House, 193 Lansdowne Road, Ottawa.
SITE PLAN Document
2
ELEVATIONS Document
3
