City and builders getting better at office conversions with each project, 360 Laurier architect says

Scaffolding has gone up over the sidewalk in front of 360 Laurier Ave., where construction is underway to transform the former downtown office building into a high-end rental apartment complex. 

It’s the second such project for both local developer CLV Group Development and Ottawa architecture firm Linebox Studios. 

The two companies began collaborating on their first conversion before the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Josée Anne Pronovost, architecture partner at Linebox and lead architect on the renovations at 360 Laurier.

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The first sweeping remodel transformed the 11-storey Trebla Building at 473 Albert St., which was built in the 1970s and served as a government office for many years, into a modern rental apartment called The Slayte, with a number of residential amenities and 158 rental units.

Office-to-residential conversions are a hot topic at city hall and among local business leaders. With demand for housing on the rise and downtown offices remaining empty post-pandemic, office conversions have been touted as one solution for providing more housing and breathing new life into the downtown core. 

But these projects are not without their challenges, with developers complaining of excess red tape bogging down the process. 

Last year, city staff released a report calling for a more streamlined approval process and lower fees for conversion projects to smooth the path for buildings and increase the appeal of renovating an existing building. But CLV Group president Oz Drewniak told OBJ at the time that more changes are needed. 

“I think it’s a step in the right direction, but it’s not far enough,” he said. “I think council needs to take courage to be able to pull all the right levers that they have at their disposal – and I don’t think they’re pulling all the levers to their full capacity.” 

On Wednesday, Pronovost gave OBJ a tour of 360 Laurier, which has been gutted to the studs. 

As she showed off the outlines for the new apartment units and highlighted the sustainability efforts they’re undertaking, Pronovost said working on The Slayte was a massive learning experience for the builders and the city. 

Those lessons have been brought to this new project.  

“From our experience with the previous 473 Albert, there is a difference. (City officials) have wrapped their heads around it. There are things that they are already approaching differently and don’t question or kind of understand where we’re going,” she said of working on the current Laurier Street project. 

“Overall, I do believe we’ve made an improvement on the process. I’m not saying it’s perfect, I’m not saying it can’t be tweaked, but the city has kind of adjusted and understood the mission a little bit more. They’ve learned lessons, just like we have.”

While mutual understanding has grown, Pronovost said the big challenge is that the process is still longer than it needs to be. In terms of permitting, she said, “It’s still taking a very long time.”

It’s not a problem unique to office-to-residential conversions, she said. “It’s kind of the nature of building permits in the city. I don’t think it’s particular to this project.”

But that doesn’t mean that there isn’t space to streamline the process. 

“It’s interesting, because you would think if something’s already standing, there would be less things to check off,” she said. “Due diligence, I understand, but there’s things like natural light for bedrooms. Having internal bedrooms that don’t have direct access to a window, there’s ways in the code that allow us to bring natural light in; there’s an alternative solution. 

She continued, “Understanding that, with existing buildings, we have limits on what we can offer. The code is very black and white and the city’s understanding can be very black and white. We need sometimes a little bit of gray, to have a bit of flexibility, with these conversion projects.”

It’s a conversation that’s important as both the city and community leaders search for new ways to increase local housing capacity and draw residents back into the downtown core. 

“We love to be involved in this in any way we can,” said Pronovost. “It’s exciting in so many ways to be part of this story. It’s adding residential to downtown, it’s also revitalizing downtown. It’s also animating streets, revamping, refurbishing for today’s needs. Every time, we learn a little bit more. It’s exciting to be a part of this conversation and something that is just all-encompassing good.”

Investing in the future

The site at 360 Laurier is currently a full-blown construction zone. 

Demolition on the interior, which included getting rid of office components and ripping out walls and flooring, was completed in the winter, leaving 11 empty storeys with nine-foot ceilings, two stairwells, and a bank of elevators. Just last month, the team received permits from the city to begin rebuilding. On the lower floors, framing has begun to separate the space into apartment units, including studios and one- to two-bedroom apartments, some of which will include dens.

At street level, the former tenants of two commercial spaces totalling 1,450 square feet on either end of the building have covered their windows and vacated, posting up signs with their new locations. The existing underground parking lot has been retained, with space for 59 vehicles.

The 12th-floor mechanical penthouse will be enlarged to accommodate a rooftop patio and lounge that will feature a hot tub. Other amenities will include a fitness centre, games room and additional perks aimed at the young professionals who are expected to be the building’s target market.

On the sixth floor of the building, which remains largely empty except for the elevator bank in the middle of the open space, it’s easy to get a sense of the type of building architects are looking for when it comes to conversion projects. 

The space is long and narrow, minimizing the space from the exterior walls to the centre, giving each unit access to multiple windows and natural light. 

As Pronovost explains, narrow rectangular buildings are better suited for residential use than square office towers, which typically have too much dead space in the centre where natural light can’t reach. 

“An office building versus a residential building, they have very different needs,” she said. “As much as we can open up the windows, we do that. There’s also building code requirements that we need to meet with respect to natural light.”

While the inside of the building will be completely transformed, the brutalist facade remains largely intact. While some areas will be punched out to add more windows – all of which will be swapped for modern, energy efficient replacements that can open – keeping the exterior mostly as is will allow the builders to save over 15 million kilograms of concrete. 

Sustainability is a major priority for all of Linebox’s projects, according to Pronovost. Concrete production is one of the world’s biggest sources of carbon dioxide pollution. The Laurier Avenue project is expected to generate 28 per cent fewer greenhouse gasses than a similar-sized development built from scratch.

“When a new building is being built, the structure consumes a lot of materials,” said Pronovost. “Concrete produces a lot of carbon, so being able to keep that, it’s almost like we’re encapsulating it. It’s there, and we’re not just demolishing it or throwing it into a landfill somewhere.”

Inside, the elevators will also be updated to modern energy consumption standards, and the building envelope will be better insulated to optimize the building’s efficiency.

While these kinds of sustainability efforts can have higher upfront costs, Pronovost said an increasing number of developers are understanding the importance of making that investment now.

“I would say 75 per cent has to be a real desire to make a change. It’s kind of easy to apply the bare minimum required and just do what you have to do. It requires extra commitment. It will cost you more to install it, it will cost you more to supply it. But just like an energy bill for your house, you will save,” she said. 

“Clients seem more interested nowadays in making that investment as we see energy prices increase and that’s not going to stop. There’s this incentive and everyone sees that happening. What can we do now to help our future selves? That’s part of their mentality.”