“The Government of Canada recognized that rehabilitation of the Macdonald Building would support the federal agenda to incorporate innovative, sustainable and environmentally responsible design into all of their buildings.” 

PWGSC website

The Macdonald Building in Ottawa was undergoing extensive renovation and upgrades to its structure and systems, most of which were original to the 1930s construction and fell short of modern building codes. Key elements of the redevelopment included improvements in energy efficiency, long-term durability, indoor air quality and other measures. Heritage conservation was also a key consideration of the upgrades, with the objective of improving long term operational results and building integrity.

Engaged as the vertical transportation consultant, HH Angus executed a complex adaptive rehabilitation of the elevator space in the Macdonald Building to meet modern accessibility standards and building codes.

The majority of inter-floor movement is intended to be accommodated by stairways, with the single passenger elevator configured to ensure barrier-free access to occupied floors. This same elevator was configured to accommodate a stretcher (measuring up to 610 mm wide x 2010 mm long) in the prone position.

Two service elevators were provided to address all material handling requirements for the facility, providing a vertical connection from the new loading dock, which was part of the redevelopment. The service elevators are located adjacent to each other and, as such, provide service redundancy for the facility in the event that one elevator is not available.

The single LU/LA* features access restrictions to ensure that use of this elevating device is limited to staff, appreciating that there may be an occasional need for public use (under the direct supervision of staff) in cases where the passenger elevator is not available.

*Limited Use/Limited Application – a specialized type of elevator designed for commercial accessibility