The C.D. Howe Building (French: Édifice C.D.-Howe) is an office tower in

Ottawa, Ontario Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

, Canada, that is the home of

Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED; ; )''Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada'' is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Department of Industry (). is a Ministry (government ...

, the Office of the

Auditor General An auditor general, also known in some countries as a comptroller general or comptroller and auditor general, is a senior civil servant charged with improving government accountability by auditing and reporting on the government's operations. Freq ...

and other smaller tenants. It was built by

Olympia and York Olympia & York (also spelled as Olympia and York, abbreviated as O&Y) was a major international property development firm based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The firm built major financial office complexes including Canary Wharf in London, the W ...

. The federal government sold the land to O&Y for a dollar and signed an agreement to lease the final building for a set rate until 2012. The eleven-story building was opened in 1978. The building site was once The Embassy Restaurant from 1953 to 1974.

Description

It was named after

C. D. Howe Clarence Decatur Howe (15 January 1886 – 31 December 1960) was an American-born Canadian engineer, businessman and Liberal Party politician. Howe served as a cabinet minister in the governments of prime ministers William Lyon Mackenzie ...

, a noted federal minister in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s. It is located at the prominent intersection of Bank Street and

Sparks Street Sparks Street () is a pedestrian mall in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It was a main street in Ottawa that was converted into an outdoor pedestrian street in 1967, making it the earliest such street or mall in Canada.shopping mall A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a large indoor shopping center, usually Anchor tenant, anchored by department stores. The term ''mall'' originally meant pedestrian zone, a pedestrian promenade with shops along it, but in the late 1960s, i ...

named 240 Sparks. The mall covers 3 floors with 50 stores including a

Holt Renfrew Holt, Renfrew & Co., Limited (Trade name, doing business as Holt Renfrew and Colloquialism, colloquially Holt's) is a Economy of Canada, Canadian luxury department store chain founded in 1837 by William S. Henderson. The original William Ashton ...

store (closed 2015). The most notable element of the building's interior is the amount of greenery and the large

waterfall A waterfall is any point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in seve ...

. Public Works and Government Services greened the rooftop to address environmental concerns including energy conservation, storm water management, biodiversity, and air quality, and to provide the occupants a landscaped tranquil outdoor space. More than 30% of the roof is landscaped and grows indigenous flowers, grasses and shrubs. Another 30% of the rooftop uses green roof technology. The C.D. Howe Building was included amongst other architecturally interesting and historically significant buildings in

Doors Open Ottawa Doors Open Ottawa is an annual event held in the City of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, that gives the public access to many of the city's unique and historically significant buildings. Among the buildings included are government offices, museums, radio ...

in both 2012 and 2014. The two

elevator An elevator (American English) or lift (Commonwealth English) is a machine that vertically transports people or freight between levels. They are typically powered by electric motors that drive traction cables and counterweight systems suc ...

banks contain two storey tall cars that rise in a large atrium that stretches the entire height of the building. The C.D. Howe Building was recognized by the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) as the "Government Office Building of the Year - Canada" in 1997/98 for excellence in management. The award was presented to the Property Manager, Ronald Vadeboncoeur RPA, FMA, CPM in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He accepted on behalf of his team, including key members: Sue Baxter, Barry O'Regan, Paul Anderson, Celine Maisonneuve, Pierre Boucher and Frank Donovan.

Gallery

CDHowebuilding.jpg, Sparks Street Entrance C.D. Howe Building, Ottawa (indoor atrium - 20 August 2004).jpg, Indoors

References

{{Portal, Canada, Architecture

Description

Gallery

References

Further reading