Awards of Excellence:

Ottawa Post Office

Completed in 1913, the Neo-Classical Revival style Ottawa post office is a stand-alone building at the north end of Ottawa’s downtown. The adaptive re-use from an institutional use to an event space was a good fit to utilize the building’s open volumes and to revive its status as a community gathering space. This rehabilitation project turned the long-vacant post office into a private event space and extended the viability of a historic resource while maintaining its character-defining features. The design team found creative solutions to incorporate new technology and modern decorative features like lighting into the existing space, while also highlighting the building’s distinctive features.