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
15 December 2004 / le 15 décembre 2004
Submitted by/Soumis par : Ned Lathrop, Deputy City Manager/
Directeur municipal adjoint,
Planning and Growth Management / Urbanisme et Gestion de la croissance
Contact Person/Personne
ressource : Grant Lindsay, Manager/Gestionnaire
Planning and Infrastructure Approvals/
Approbation des demandes d'aménagement et
d'infrastructure
(613) 580-2424 x 13242, grant.lindsay@ottawa.ca
REPORT RECOMMENDATION
That the Local Architectural
Conservation Advisory Committee recommend that Planning and Environment
Committee and Council approve the application for new construction at 688 Manor
Avenue, in accordance with the plans filed by Nicholas Caragianis, Architect,
received on November 26, 2004.
(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 et au Conseil municipal d'approuver la demande de construction
au 688, avenue Manor, conformément aux plans déposés par Nicholas Caragianis,
Architect, et reçus le 26 novembre 2004.
(Nota : L'approbation de la demande de transformation en vertu de la Loi
sur le patrimoine de l’Ontario ne signifie pas que les critères de délivrance
d'un permis de construire ont été satisfaits.)
Local Architectural Conservation Advisory Committee Recommendation - 13 January 2005
LACAC supports the departmental recommendation.
BACKGROUND
688 Manor Avenue (formerly 219 Coltrin Road) is a vacant lot located within the boundaries of the Rockcliffe Park Heritage Conservation District, designated as a heritage conservation district under the Ontario Heritage Act in 1997. (see Document 1). This report has been prepared because Rockcliffe Park’s status as a heritage conservation district requires the consent of City Council before new construction on a vacant lot can proceed.
ANALYSIS
The house proposed for the new lot is a large Tudor
Revival-inspired house. It is a roughly rectangular structure set perpendicular
to the street (see Document 2). It has a steep hipped roof with dormers and
pedimented gables punctuating the roofline. Differently sized windows, which
are multi-paned, combined with the gables, bay windows and recessed balconies
articulate the facades. The entrance facade features a large symmetrically
placed entrance, sheltered under an entrance porch with simple columns located
in a gable-ended frontispiece (Document 3). The casement windows feature hood
moulds and are arranged in groups of three. The first and second storey are
separated by a simple string course and stone quoins delineate the corners.
There is a secondary entrance at the east end of the south elevation that
features an open porch below with a balcony above (Document 4). The north
elevation faces over a more formal garden and there is an array of windows, French
doors and protruding bays along that elevation (Document 4). The east elevation
is simple and symmetrical with the fenestration pattern of the other facades. A
driveway slopes along this facade, dropping to a garage located below grade
(Document 5).
The grounds of the building will be a mix of
informal and formal green spaces, with the large south lawn featuring a pool
and mixed informal plantings around the perimeter of the property. To the
north, a formal garden is situated at grade, on the roof of the garage
basement-level garage.
Very popular in the early 20th century,
Tudor Revival houses were intended to emulate English country houses, although
often on a grander scale. Features associated with the Tudor Revival found here
include steeply pitched hipped roofs, often with dormers, large gables, leaded
glass windows, prominent chimneys, bay windows, and stone quoins. The large
scale is also reminiscent of the country houses of early 20th
century England. When completed, the proposed house will be similar to the
large Tudor Revival stone houses built in the 1920s at the north end of former
village of Rockcliffe Park and will reflect the tradition of using English
domestic architecture as the inspiration for new construction in Rockcliffe.
The Heritage sub-committee of the Rockcliffe
Park Residents Association reviewed the building proposed in May 2003 at a
meeting that was also attended by the building’s designer, Sarah Murray. 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 discussed. The sub-committee had no major concerns with
the design, although there were questions about whether brick or stone was to
be used, the roofing material, and the entrance, particularly the
porte-cochere. After the meeting, the building continued to evolve and the
porte-cochere was removed and the windows simplified. Another review was held
after the submission of the final drawings and the sub-committee had no further
concerns. The Committee of Adjustment approved minor variances for the project
on October 22, 2004 and a Site Plan Control application is being processed.
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 informed 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 many shrubs.
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 also be sited and designed so as to retain the existing
topography. The use of natural materials should be encouraged.
The “natural and cultural environment”
surrounding 688 Manor Avenue is mixed, like most of Rockcliffe Park, featuring
houses on smaller lots to the east and some of the area's largest houses
located on estate-sized lots to the north and west. The new house is compatible
with its neighbours and will not
overwhelm this sector of the Village.
The proposed new building makes very clear
stylistic references to Tudor Revival houses of the early 20th
century, a design idiom often referred to within the context of Rockcliffe
Park. The building’s design, materials, sensitive siting and landscaping are
also consistent with the cultural landscape traditions of Rockcliffe Park. These qualities, and the building's
compatibility with its landscape, reflect the "Guidelines" and thus
the Department of Planning and Growth Management has no objection to the proposed
building.
CONSULTATION
Adjacent property owners and residential
tenants were notified by letter of the date of the Local Architecture
Conservation Advisory (LACAC) and
Planning and Environment Committee meetings and were provided with comment sheets
to be returned to LACAC. This is in accordance with the City's public
participation policies of the former City of Ottawa.
The Rockcliffe Park Residents’ Association was
informed of the project and the Heritage Sub-committee of the Association reviewed
the proposal and has no objections to it.
Jacques Legendre, the Ward Councillor, is aware
of this application under the Ontario Heritage Act.
Heritage Ottawa is aware of this application to
alter.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
N/A
SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION
Document 1 Location
Map
Document 2 Preliminary
Landscape Plan, not for approval, for information only.
Document 3 West
Elevation
Document 4 South
Elevation
Document 5 North
Elevation
Document 6 East
Elevation
DISPOSITION
The Department of Corporate Services, Council
and Committee Services Branch, to notify the applicant/ agent (Nicholas
Caragianis, Architect, Suite 105, 333 Preston Street, Ottawa, Ontario, K1S
5N4) and the Ontario Heritage
Foundation (10 Adelaide Street, 3rd Floor, Toronto, Ontario, M5C 1J3) of City
Council’s consent to construct a new house on the lot located at 688 Manor
Avenue.
LOCATION MAP Document
1
PRELIMINARY LANDSCAPE PLAN Document
2
WEST ELEVATION Document
3
SOUTH ELEVATION Document
4
NORTH ELEVATION Document
5
EAST ELEVATION Document
6
