Telling a Story
The wood ceiling installation represents this shifting influence of transportation systems over the last century and a half in the Ottawa region. It traces all of these key transportation routes over the original grid of the land concessions in the region, forming a series of distinct panels that include modern-day roads, trails and buildings.
An abstract topography was created by pushing upward along the centerline of the Ottawa River—the transportation route of origin—while pulling down along the Queens- way, our modern-day bisecting highway.
“The ceiling represents a nod to the history of change in our region,” says Walter Gaudet, managing principal, HDR. “It speaks to the impact of human development on the landscape.”
Producing the Vision
The creation of the new studio space and its featured wood ceiling installation required the use of new milling technologies and the development of a 3-D graphic language to represent and translate thousands of lines of mapping into a consistent abstraction milled into the panels. Multiple mockups and tests for resin bonding and bit depth were also needed.
Digital maps of the region were sourced and redrawn to provide the best balance of information. These digital files were converted into computer code that would instruct the CNC machines on where and how to cut the panels. Each panel would have a distinct shape and pattern.
Medium-density fiberboard (MDF) was chosen as the substrate because of its dimensional stability and the ability to cantilever past the suspension girts forming the structure above. A phenolic resin interlayer was laminated onto the MDF to allow for color changes as bit depth was varied. This allowed designers to show buildings and key elements in contrast to the panel face and core. The final layer was a maple veneer, chosen as one of the most common species in eastern Canadian deciduous forests and Canada’s national symbol.
Multiple mockups were produced to gauge the appropriate bit depth, material tear and resin bonding before the final approach was developed. The panels each have a particular angle and the multifaceted composition is supported by custom-cut girts that each create an abstract topography as a series of support ribs. These ribs are then laterally tied by struts that run lengthways to hold the wood ceiling together and provide seismic stability as required by the local building authority.
“Once the panels’ fabrication was completed in LTR Industries, a local millwork shop in the Ottawa Valley, the pieces were transported to the site and assembled upside down on the floor by our staff,” says Ingrid Felso, HDR’s director of operations for Eastern Ontario. Each concession section was then hoisted up and set in place one after the other to create the new abstract terrain above.
The Studio Space
The interior of the architectural studio was planned to provide the maximum amount of open area and access to daylight. The feature ceiling is located at the center of the open area and aligns with the entrance to guide visitors into the space. This central space is open to north and south exterior walls of glass; enclosed offices are located on the east and west sides facing the central open space.
A simple palette of finishes include the existing poured concrete columns and floor above, glass, painted drywall and carpet. All mechanical, electrical and plumbing services are exposed in the ceiling allowing the studio to show clients the inner workings of typical building fabric.
Together, the concrete and exposed services contrast with the warmth of the maple-faceted feature ceiling and create a clear focal point in the space. Monotube LED light pendants appear as floating fluorescent tubes highlighting the varied angles of concessions throughout the region in the abstract map.
The hundreds of hours spent researching, experimenting and crafting the wood ceiling has paid off in creating something as unique to our architecture practice’s place in the region as it is unique to the Ottawa office’s workplace within the larger context of our worldwide offices. We see it as our responsibility to tell stories of historical change as much as to propose design solutions as a way to inspire future-forward thinking in our communities.
Photos: HDR Architecture Associates Inc.; ©2016 Dan Schwalm, unless otherwise noted