 |
Innovatica, a Canadian Centre for Innovation (Credit: prototypeD Urban Workshops, 2013) |
by Mike Bulthuis
“There is one neighbourhood that we feel, above all, has the right mix of elements to foster an initiative as bold as the Innovation Complex. Vanier” (prototypeD, 2013: 13). Imagine design studios, a fabrication lab, exhibition space and community meeting spaces in a mixed-use building that includes rental and condominium units. Now, imagine this facility in a repurposed elementary school on Lajoie Street, here in Vanier. With an architectural vision in-hand, prototypeD Urban Workshops hopes to make this vision a reality, repurposing the former Jean Vanier Catholic (JVC) Intermediate School at 320 Lajoie.
But first, a little background on the building’s history…
Jean Vanier Catholic was closed in 2009. The building still stands today as an illustration of the social and demographic changes Vanier has seen in recent decades. Constructed in 1948-49, the school opened as École Ducharme, a French-language Catholic elementary school (after its initial location on Montreal Road burned down in 1948). Next to École Ducharme, at 330 Lajoie, Assumption School was built at the same time -- another Catholic elementary school, this one English. By the 1970s, after a number of additions, École Ducharme closed, with students directed to École Glaude, on Lévis, and Assumption School moving into 320 Lajoie. In later years, Assumption would move again, into its current premises on Lévis, filling the space left behind by École Glaude.
With Assumption having left 320 Lajoie, Jean Vanier Catholic (JVC) Intermediate School, an English-language school serving grades 7 and 8, held its official opening ceremony in the building on October 27, 1989. The school was named after Jean Vanier, the founder of L’Arche International, and the son of the City of Vanier’s namesake, former Governor General of Canada, Georges Vanier.
However, after a 2008-9 School Accommodation Review, the Ottawa Catholic School Board recommended that JVC close. Citing the strengthened viability of curriculum, the benefits of larger enrolments and better facilities and additional resources elsewhere, it was recommended that students be provided transition supports to attend Immaculata or Lester B. Pearson. In February 2009, the Board of Trustees concurred, voting 7-3 to close JVC in June.
Back to the proposal for the building’s future…
However, just as schools can be incubators for new ideas, prototypeD has prepared a first draft architectural vision, with corresponding narrative document, to launch a discussion on repurposing the building into Innovatica – a Canadian Centre for Innovation. Hints of the original building, such as the ground-level “existing mid-century brick façade with large and rhythmic window openings” (2013: 31) are maintained, while a modern envelope would emerge. The building would create a new focal point for the community, and alongside the Wabano Centre and proposed AEFO headquarters, create a suite of modern architecture.
The proposed complex would draw together “doers, makers, artists and entrepreneurs,” creating a facility (arguably) consisting of the elements necessary for innovation to co-exist, including design studios, meeting rooms, offices, incubation supports, public exhibition spaces and a gym-turned-fabrication-lab (accessed by sliding garage style doors).
Why Vanier, and more specifically the JVC building? The proponent cites the building’s proximity to downtown and local amenities, the area’s affordability and investment potential, its accessibility by automobile and alternative transportation, and the revitalization occurring on Montreal Road – all positive attributes for the potential complex and for any spin-offs that it may help to create. On-site staff would assist in facilitating connections and offering programs, while possible rooftop gardens and rental or condominium units would enhance the mixed-use character.
While serving as a “conceptual framework for an innovation complex, which could be discussed independently from any specific initiative that is currently underway in any one city or even country” (2013: 8), it is noteworthy that the proposal comes only months after a January provincial funding announcement of $15 million for an Ottawa innovation complex. Tentatively planned for the Bayview Yards neighbourhood, with the City making land available through the Bayview Station District Community Design Plan, the location for the City’s complex – and future home of Invest Ottawa - is not yet confirmed. An Innovation Complex Advisory Committee will be reviewing proposals in the coming months.
Best use?
Since 2009, the JVC building at 320 Lajoie has seen a variety of uses. St. Joseph’s Adult School (a Continuing Education facility of the Ottawa Catholic Board) briefly used the gym for bricklaying courses. The Board currently rents space to the Ottawa Police and other organizations for training-related exercises. During the 2000s, the school had also been used on weekends and weeknights for community purposes including basketball, volleyball, Boy Scouts, Kiwanis Club, and by groups including the local Parish, the Knights of Columbus and the Kiwanis Club. As a surplus school site, the Board today has no stated plans to sell the property and rather is willing to continue to rent to interested groups that would respect the institutional zoning and offer a “good fit” with the community.
Whether or not the Innovatica project is viable under the City’s and Province’s funding for an Innovation Complex, prototypeD argues that Vanier has the right mix to foster such a development. While renting out the JVC building for a variety of uses may fill the space, prototypeD’s proposal would see the building become a central element in Ottawa’s own redefinition of itself as an innovative and creative city. It’s a bold idea.
Sources:
Bourassa, Andrée; Lorraine L. Monette and Denis P. Régimbald (1975) La petite histoire de Vanier (Vanier: Association des citoyens de Vanier)
Laporte, Luc (1983) Vanier (Ottawa: Centre franco-ontarien de resources pédagogiques)
Perspectives Vanier (2009) “Jean Vanier Catholic Intermediate School Will Close” Vol 6 No. 3, February 2009, p 1, 3
prototypeD Urban Workshops (2013) “innovatica: Canadian Centre for Innovation / Centre canadien pour l’innovation” Prepared for the Innovation Complex Advisory Committee, Ottawa, Canada.
“There is one neighbourhood that we feel, above all, has the right mix of elements to foster an initiative as bold as the Innovation Complex. Vanier” (prototypeD, 2013: 13). Imagine design studios, a fabrication lab, exhibition space and community meeting spaces in a mixed-use building that includes rental and condominium units. Now, imagine this facility in a repurposed elementary school on Lajoie Street, here in Vanier. With an architectural vision in-hand, prototypeD Urban Workshops hopes to make this vision a reality, repurposing the former Jean Vanier Catholic (JVC) Intermediate School at 320 Lajoie.
But first, a little background on the building’s history…
Jean Vanier Catholic was closed in 2009. The building still stands today as an illustration of the social and demographic changes Vanier has seen in recent decades. Constructed in 1948-49, the school opened as École Ducharme, a French-language Catholic elementary school (after its initial location on Montreal Road burned down in 1948). Next to École Ducharme, at 330 Lajoie, Assumption School was built at the same time -- another Catholic elementary school, this one English. By the 1970s, after a number of additions, École Ducharme closed, with students directed to École Glaude, on Lévis, and Assumption School moving into 320 Lajoie. In later years, Assumption would move again, into its current premises on Lévis, filling the space left behind by École Glaude.
With Assumption having left 320 Lajoie, Jean Vanier Catholic (JVC) Intermediate School, an English-language school serving grades 7 and 8, held its official opening ceremony in the building on October 27, 1989. The school was named after Jean Vanier, the founder of L’Arche International, and the son of the City of Vanier’s namesake, former Governor General of Canada, Georges Vanier.
However, after a 2008-9 School Accommodation Review, the Ottawa Catholic School Board recommended that JVC close. Citing the strengthened viability of curriculum, the benefits of larger enrolments and better facilities and additional resources elsewhere, it was recommended that students be provided transition supports to attend Immaculata or Lester B. Pearson. In February 2009, the Board of Trustees concurred, voting 7-3 to close JVC in June.
Back to the proposal for the building’s future…
However, just as schools can be incubators for new ideas, prototypeD has prepared a first draft architectural vision, with corresponding narrative document, to launch a discussion on repurposing the building into Innovatica – a Canadian Centre for Innovation. Hints of the original building, such as the ground-level “existing mid-century brick façade with large and rhythmic window openings” (2013: 31) are maintained, while a modern envelope would emerge. The building would create a new focal point for the community, and alongside the Wabano Centre and proposed AEFO headquarters, create a suite of modern architecture.
The proposed complex would draw together “doers, makers, artists and entrepreneurs,” creating a facility (arguably) consisting of the elements necessary for innovation to co-exist, including design studios, meeting rooms, offices, incubation supports, public exhibition spaces and a gym-turned-fabrication-lab (accessed by sliding garage style doors).
Why Vanier, and more specifically the JVC building? The proponent cites the building’s proximity to downtown and local amenities, the area’s affordability and investment potential, its accessibility by automobile and alternative transportation, and the revitalization occurring on Montreal Road – all positive attributes for the potential complex and for any spin-offs that it may help to create. On-site staff would assist in facilitating connections and offering programs, while possible rooftop gardens and rental or condominium units would enhance the mixed-use character.
While serving as a “conceptual framework for an innovation complex, which could be discussed independently from any specific initiative that is currently underway in any one city or even country” (2013: 8), it is noteworthy that the proposal comes only months after a January provincial funding announcement of $15 million for an Ottawa innovation complex. Tentatively planned for the Bayview Yards neighbourhood, with the City making land available through the Bayview Station District Community Design Plan, the location for the City’s complex – and future home of Invest Ottawa - is not yet confirmed. An Innovation Complex Advisory Committee will be reviewing proposals in the coming months.
Best use?
Since 2009, the JVC building at 320 Lajoie has seen a variety of uses. St. Joseph’s Adult School (a Continuing Education facility of the Ottawa Catholic Board) briefly used the gym for bricklaying courses. The Board currently rents space to the Ottawa Police and other organizations for training-related exercises. During the 2000s, the school had also been used on weekends and weeknights for community purposes including basketball, volleyball, Boy Scouts, Kiwanis Club, and by groups including the local Parish, the Knights of Columbus and the Kiwanis Club. As a surplus school site, the Board today has no stated plans to sell the property and rather is willing to continue to rent to interested groups that would respect the institutional zoning and offer a “good fit” with the community.
Whether or not the Innovatica project is viable under the City’s and Province’s funding for an Innovation Complex, prototypeD argues that Vanier has the right mix to foster such a development. While renting out the JVC building for a variety of uses may fill the space, prototypeD’s proposal would see the building become a central element in Ottawa’s own redefinition of itself as an innovative and creative city. It’s a bold idea.
Sources:
Bourassa, Andrée; Lorraine L. Monette and Denis P. Régimbald (1975) La petite histoire de Vanier (Vanier: Association des citoyens de Vanier)
Laporte, Luc (1983) Vanier (Ottawa: Centre franco-ontarien de resources pédagogiques)
Perspectives Vanier (2009) “Jean Vanier Catholic Intermediate School Will Close” Vol 6 No. 3, February 2009, p 1, 3
prototypeD Urban Workshops (2013) “innovatica: Canadian Centre for Innovation / Centre canadien pour l’innovation” Prepared for the Innovation Complex Advisory Committee, Ottawa, Canada.