Report to
Rapport au:

Built Heritage Sub-Committee / Sous-comité du patrimoine bâti
June 8, 2017 / 8 juin 2017

and / et

Planning Committee / Comité de l'urbanisme
June 27, 2017 / 27 juin 2017

and Council / et au Conseil
July 12, 2017 / 12 juillet 2017

Submitted on May 30, 2017
Soumis le 30 mai 2017

Submitted by
Soumis par:
Court Curry,
Manager / Gestionnaire,
Right of Way, Heritage and Urban Design Services / Services des emprises, du patrimoine et du design urbain
Planning, Infrastructure and Economic Development Department / Direction générale de la planification, de l'Infrastructure et du développement économique

Contact Person
Personne ressource:
Sally Coutts, Senior Heritage Planner/ Planificatrice principale de la conservation du patrimoine
Right of Way, Heritage and Urban Design / Services des emprises, du patrimoine et du design urbain / Planning, Infrastructure and Economic Development / Urbanisme, infrastructure et développement économique
(613) 580-2424, 13474, Sally.Coutts@ottawa.ca 

Ward: RIDEAU-ROCKCLIFFE (13) 

File Number: ACS2017-PIE-RHU-0013 

SUBJECT: Application to Alter 429 Lansdowne Road North, a property located in the Rockcliffe Park Heritage Conservation District and designated under Part V of the Ontario Heritage Act 

OBJET: Demande de modification du 429, chemin Lansdowne Nord, une propriété située dans le district de conservation du patrimoine de Rockcliffe Park et désignée en vertu de la partie V de la Loi sur le patrimoine de l’Ontario 

REPORT RECOMMENDATIONS 

That the Built Heritage Sub-Committee recommend that Planning Committee recommend that Council: 

1. Approve the application to alter the building located at 429 Lansdowne Road North, a property located in the Rockcliffe Park Heritage Conservation District designated under Part V of the Ontario Heritage Act, according to plans by Angelo Spadola received on May 4, 2017; 

2. Approve the landscape design for the new building at 429 Lansdowne Road North, submitted on May 4, 2017; 

3. Delegate authority for minor design changes to the General Manager, Planning, Infrastructure and Economic Development; and  

4. Issue the heritage permit with a two-year expiry date from the date of issuance, unless otherwise extended by City Council.  

(Note: The statutory 90-day timeline for consideration of this application under the Ontario Heritage Act will expire on August 2, 2017.) 

(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.) 

RECOMMANDATIONS DU RAPPORT 

Que le Sous-comité du patrimoine bâti recommande au Comité de l’urbanisme de recommander à son tour au Conseil : 

1. D’approuver la demande de modification du bâtiment situé au 429, chemin Lansdowne Nord, une propriété située dans le district de conservation du patrimoine de Rockcliffe Park et désignée en vertu de la partie V de la Loi sur le patrimoine de l’Ontario, conformément aux plans soumis par Angelo Spadola et reçus le 4 mai 2017 ; 

2. D’approuver la conception paysagère du nouveau bâtiment construit au 429, chemin Lansdowne Nord, soumise le 4 mai 2017 ; 

3. De déléguer au directeur général de Planification, Infrastructure et Développement économique le pouvoir d’effectuer des modifications mineures de conception ;  

4. De délivrer un permis en matière de patrimoine dont la date d’expiration est fixée à deux ans après la date d’émission, sauf si sa validité est prolongée par le Conseil.  

(Nota : Le délai réglementaire de 90 jours d’examen de cette demande, exigé en vertu de la Loi sur le patrimoine de l’Ontario, prendra fin le 2 août 2017.) 

Nota : L’approbation de la demande de modification aux termes de la Loi sur le patrimoine de l’Ontario ne signifie pas pour autant qu’elle satisfait aux conditions de délivrance d’un permis de construire.) 

BACKGROUND 

The property at 429 Lansdowne Road North is located at the corner of Lansdowne Road North and Lakehurst Road (See map, Document 1). The Rockcliffe Park Lawn Tennis Club is located north of the property and takes up most of the west side of the block between Lakehurst and Hillsdale Roads. The house is currently one of two houses on the west side of Lansdowne Road North between Old Prospect and Lakehurst Roads, however there is a vacant lot at the corner of Old Prospect Road and Lansdowne Avenue North which is expected to be developed. Houses on the east side of the road back onto Mackay Lake, and include 412 Lansdowne Avenue Road (1936) and the iconic Hart Massey House (1963). This area of Rockcliffe Park, like most of the HCD, features a mix of housing styles and types.  

The Rockcliffe Park Heritage Conservation District (RPHCD) was designated in 1997 for its cultural heritage value as an early planned residential community first laid out by Thomas Keefer in 1864. The district is also important for its historical associations with Keefer and his father-in-law, Thomas MacKay, the founder of New Edinburgh and the original owner of Rideau Hall. The picturesque nature of the village also contributes significantly to its cultural heritage value. The Statement of Heritage Character notes that today the Village of Rockcliffe Park is a distinctive community of single family houses and related institutional properties within a park setting. (See Document 2) 

This report has been prepared because additions to properties in heritage conservation districts designated under Part V of the Ontario Heritage Act require the approval of City Council. There are no other applications associated with this project (See zoning compliance chart, Document 3).  

DISCUSSION 

Constructed in 1942, the house at 429 Lansdowne is a two storey structure, sheathed in large asbestos cement shingles, and is typical of the era in its form and massing. It has a symmetrical centre hall plan, a modified gambrel roof with large shed dormers, six over six windows with shutters, and a front door with sidelights (see photos, Document 4). A small one car garage is attached to the north side of the building. The house is on a slight rise, sloping down towards Lansdowne Road. There is an open lawn facing Lansdowne Road and a number of large mature trees on the property. To the north, facing Lakehurst Road, shrubs and small caliper trees line the street. This section of Lansdowne Road is quite narrow, with large city-owned, tree-lined verges that make the individual lots seem larger than they are (for streetscape, see Document 5). The interior of the lot is a mix of open lawn and shrubbery. 

As part of the process leading up to the recently-approved Rockcliffe Park Heritage Conservation District Plan, each property in the district was researched and evaluated and scored for its Environment, History and Architecture. The property received a score of 57, and is a Grade I building (see Heritage Survey Form, Document 6).  

The current proposal is to construct two additions to the building, one to the south and another to the north and west, replacing the small garage and extending into the rear yard. When completed, the building will be L-shaped, with a new double garage accessed from Lakehurst Road. The existing driveway will be removed with the relocation of the garage to the rear of the property. 

From Lansdowne Road, the proposed additions to the house will evoke its existing character, while the rear additions facing inward, will be more contemporary. The current building is sheathed in white asbestos cement shingles and to evoke the simple design expression of this obsolete building material, the architect has chosen stained white cedar shingles as the replacement cladding. The original window openings remain the same and the existing sash will be retained, with new sealed units inserted into the sash. The front door will also remain and the shutters will be replaced to match the existing. 

A two storey band of windows or curtain wall, located in a two storey gable-roofed addition creates a transition from the original house to the one storey garage/utility room. To the rear, the former back wall of the house will be replaced by a glass curtain wall that will face into the garden. 

The building’s new garage/utility room faces north to Lakehurst Road, and its interior (south) wall is quite simple, with one window facing the interior yard (for elevations and renderings, see Document 7). 

Recommendation 1 

The City of Ottawa approved the adoption of a new heritage conservation district plan for Rockcliffe Park in in 2016 but this plan is currently under appeal. Until the resolution of the appeal, the City is using this document as policy in addition to the guidelines of the former Rockcliffe Park heritage conservation study.  

The Rockcliffe Park Heritage Conservation Study  

The Study completed for the initial designation of the former Village of Rockcliffe Park as a heritage conservation district had policies regarding additions to buildings within the Heritage Conservation District.  

iv) Buildings 

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 only be recommended for approval 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 cultural landscape. They should be sited and designed so as to retain the existing topography. The use of natural materials should be encouraged.  

Rockcliffe Park Heritage Conservation District Plan  

Guidelines for Existing Buildings and Landscapes, Conservation and Maintenance.” 

As a Grade 1 building, 429 Lansdowne Road North, is subject to Section 7.3.2, “Guidelines for Existing Buildings and Landscapes.” This section addresses issues such as maintenance, chimneys, masonry, paint colour etc. The current project preserves the window sash, replaces the shutters to match the existing, and preserves the original door and sidelights. It does not, however, preserve the original asbestos cement shingles as these are no longer a recommended building material because of their high asbestos content. Their replacement in white tinted cedar shingles is an appropriate substitution.  

7.4.1 Alteration and Additions to Existing Buildings 

The RPHCDP has general guidelines for additions to buildings in the HCD. These guidelines reflect accepted heritage practice and emphasize that additions should be of their own time, have a lower roof than the building to which they are attached, use natural materials, and have garages located to the rear.  

The guidelines specifically for Grade I buildings say that additions shall be complementary and subordinate to the original building, compatible with the historic character of the street in terms of scale, massing, height, setback, entry levels and materials, windows should complement the building’s original windows, the additions shouldn’t obstruct heritage attributes of the building or the HCD and cladding will be sympathetic to the original (see Document 8 for the full text of the guidelines). 

The proposed interventions, described above, respect the guidelines of both the original 1997 study and the council-approved document. The two, additions facing Lansdowne Road have a lower roofline than the original building and a slight setback delineates them from it. The northerly addition is roughly the same width as the one storey garage it replaces.  

The interventions to the rear are more clearly contemporary in expression, with a two storey window to indicate the break between the original house and the garage/utility room addition. The garage is one storey in height. The contemporary expression of the rear interventions, that include the construction of a glass curtain wall facing the rear yard, will not have an impact on the cultural heritage character of the street, as they are screened by trees and shrubs and shielded by the garage. The garage itself is consistent with the guidelines regarding new garages, that state that they should be to the rear of the existing building.  

Heritage staff has no objections to the proposed additions to the building located at 429 Lansdowne Avenue North. The additions are lower than the existing building, set back from the front façade, clad in a material that reflects the character of the original house, and the door and window openings on the front façade, plus the original shutters and sidelights will remain. 

Recommendation 2  

The existing landscape of the property is typical of Rockcliffe Park with mature trees, flowerbeds and shrubs. It is further enhanced by the wide city-owned verge that buffers it on the north and east. The proposed landscape plan is quite simple and respects the property’s original character. The existing driveway will be removed and converted to lawn and a narrow walkway will be constructed from the front door to the road. It will also extend around the perimeter of the building to access the rear yard. A new flower bed will be created south of the walkway with a mix of perennials and shrubs. All existing trees will be retained. The south side yard setback will be reduced in size by 3 metres, leaving a landscaped open space of 4.6 metres which is consistent with side yards in the block bounded by Old Prospect Road, Lansdowne Road South, Lakehurst Road and Cloverdale Avenue. Six existing trees along the south property line will remain, as will the trees in the east (front) and north (side) yards The total reduction in landscaped open space to the south and north facing Lansdowne Avenue North is about 3 metres (for landscape plan, see Document 8). Lansdowne and Lakehurst Roads’ 10-metre wide public verges provide significant extra green space around the property that creates the impression of a much bigger lot, so although the proposed new building covers 22 per cent of the lot, it appears to have less coverage because it is flanked by wide greenspaces on the north and east, thus reducing the visual impact of the increased coverage. Furthermore, the major impact of the increased footprint will be a reduction in the size of the backyard, which will not affect the cultural heritage value of the district as a whole, as it is internal to the site. For these reasons, heritage staff have no objection to the proposed landscape plan.  

Recommendation 4  

Minor changes to a building or a landscape plan sometimes emerge during the working drawing phase. This recommendation is included to allow Planning, Infrastructure and Economic Development to approve these changes. 

Recommendation 5  

The Ontario Heritage Act does not provide any timelines for the expiry of heritage permits. In this instance, a two-year expiry date, unless otherwise extended by Council, is recommended to ensure that the project is completed in a timely fashion. 

Standards and Guidelines  

City Council adopted the “Standards and Guidelines for the Conservation of Historic Places in Canada” in 2008. The applicable standards for the application are: 

Standard 1: Conserve the heritage value of an historic place. 

The proposed project will conserve the cultural heritage value of the heritage conservation district. All existing trees and shrubs will be preserved, and the simple character of the house will be preserved through the retention of selected elements and the contemporary expression of the interventions to the rear.  

Conclusion 

Staff of Right of Way, Heritage and Urban Design have no objection to the proposed additions. The building’s simple character will be preserved when viewed from Lansdowne Road North, as the design of the two 3.05-metre wide additions complement the character of the original building. The north wing will be on the footprint of the existing garage, while the new south wing will be set back from the front façade and be about 7 metres deep, extending no further than the existing rear facade. The Lakehurst Road façade is buffered from view from the road by the vegetation on the 10metre wide city-owned verge. From a landscape perspective, the existing landscaped character of the property will be preserved and enhanced through the retention of mature trees, and by moving the driveway to Lakehurst Road. In addition, the presence of an unusually wide right of way creates the impression of a much bigger lot, reducing the impact of the additions. 

Provincial Policy Statement 

Staff have reviewed this proposal and have determined that it is consistent with the Provincial Policy Statement, 2014. 

RURAL IMPLICATIONS 

RISK MANAGEMENT IMPLICATIONS 

There are no risk management implications associated with this report. 

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS 

There are no direct financial implications.  

ACCESSIBILITY IMPACTS 

There are no accessibility impacts associated with this report. 

TERM OF COUNCIL PRIORITIES 

This project addresses the following Term of Council Priorities: 

HC4 – Support Arts, Heritage and Culture 

GP2 – ‘Governance, Planning and Decision-Making’ may be used to rationalize a development application.  

APPLICATION PROCESS TIMELINE STATUS 

The application was processed within the 90-day statutory requirement under the Ontario Heritage Act. 

SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION 

Document 1 GeoOttawa map showing location 

Document 2 Statement of Cultural Heritage Value 

Document 3 Zoning compliance chart 

Document 4 Photographs 

Document 5 Streetscape 

Document 6 Heritage Survey Form  

Document 7 Elevations and Renderings 

Document 8 Guidelines 

Document 9 Landscape Plan 

DISPOSITION 

City Clerk and Solicitor Department, Legislative Services, to notify the property owner and the Ontario Heritage Trust (10 Adelaide Street East, 3rd Floor, Toronto, Ontario, M5C 1J3) of Council’s decision. 

Document 1 – GeoOttawa Map 

Document 2 – Statement of Cultural Heritage Value  

Rockcliffe Park is a rare and significant approach to estate layout and landscape design adapted to Canada’s natural landscape from 18th century English precedents. Originally purchased from the Crown by Thomas McKay, it was laid out according to the principles of the Picturesque tradition in a series of “Park and Villa” lots by his son-in-law Thomas Keefer in 1864. The historical associations of the village with the McKay/Keefer family, who were influential in the economic, social, cultural and political development of Ottawa continue and the heritage conservation district is a testament to the ideas and initiatives of various key members of this extended family, and their influence in shaping this area. 

Rockcliffe Park today is a remarkably consistent reflection of Keefer’s original design intentions. Although development of the residential lots has taken place very gradually, the ideas of estate management, of individual lots as part of a larger whole, of Picturesque design, of residential focus, have survived. This continuity of vision is very rare in a community where development has occurred on a relatively large scale over such a long time period.  

The preservation of the natural landscape, the deliberately curved roads, lined with mature trees, and without curbs or sidewalks, the careful landscaping of the public spaces and corridors, together with the strong landscaping of the individual properties, create the apparently casual and informal style so integral to the Picturesque tradition. The preservation and enhancement of topographical features including the lake and pond, the internal ridges and slopes, and the various rock outcroppings, has reinforced the original design intentions. The views to and from the Ottawa River, the Beechwood escarpment, and the other park areas are integral to the Picturesque quality of Rockcliffe Park. Beechwood Cemetery and the Rockeries serve as a compatible landscaped boundary from the earliest period of settlement through to the present. The various border lands create important gateways to the area, and help establish its particular character. 

The architectural design of the buildings and associated institutional facilities is similarly deliberate and careful. Many of the houses were designed by architects, in a variety of the architectural styles that have been popular since the first decades of the 20th century, including Georgian Revival, Tudor Revival, and Arts and Crafts. The generosity of space around the houses, and the flow of one property to the next by continuous planting rather than hard fence lines, has maintained the estate qualities and park setting envisioned by Keefer. 

Document 3 – Zoning Chart/ Setbacks  

Document 4 – Current Conditions  

Document 5 – Streetscape  

Document 7 – Renderings and Elevations  

Please note, for illustrative purposes only 

Document 8 – Additions and New Construction 

7.4.1 Alterations and Additions to Existing Buildings 

General Guidelines 

1. Property owners are encouraged to retain an architect, designer and/or heritage professional when designing an addition to an existing building. 

2. Additions to existing buildings should be of their own time and are not required to replicate an historic architectural style. If a property owner wishes to recreate an historic style, care should be taken to endure that the proposed addition is an accurate interpretation. 

3. The height of any addition to an existing building should normally not exceed the height of the existing roof. If an application is made to alter the roof, the new roof profile should be compatible with that of its neighbours. 

4. The use of natural materials, such as stone, real stucco, brick and wood is an important attribute of the HCD, and the use of materials such as vinyl siding, aluminum soffits, synthetic stucco, and manufactured stone will not be permitted. 

5. Brick and stone cladding will extend to all facades. 

6. Terraces on the top storey of buildings do not form part of the heritage character of the HCD, however, a terrace on the top storey may be permitted if it is set back from the roof edge, it and its fixtures are not visible from the surrounding public realm and the terrace does not have a negative effect on the character of the surrounding cultural heritage landscape.  

7. Terraces and balconies below the top storey (for example, on a garage roof, or one storey addition) may be recommended for approval if they do not have a negative effect on the character of the surrounding cultural heritage landscape. 

8. New garages shall not normally be attached to the front or side facades of existing buildings, but may be attached to the rear of the building. Exceptions may be made for attached garages set back significantly from the front facade in order to reduce their impact on the cultural heritage value of the associated streetscape. 

9. The use of modern materials such as plastic or fiberglass to replicate architectural details such as columns, balusters or bargeboard is not acceptable and will not be permitted. 

Guidelines for Grade I Buildings 

1. All additions to Grade I buildings shall be complementary to the existing building, subordinate to and distinguishable from the original and compatible in terms of massing, facade proportion, and rooflines. 

2. In planning alterations and additions to Grade I buildings, the integrity of the rooflines of the original house (gable, hip, gambrel, flat etc.) shall be respected.  

3. Alterations and additions to Grade I buildings shall be designed to be compatible with the historic character of buildings in the associated streetscape, in terms of scale, massing, height, setback, entry level, and materials. 

4. Windows in new additions should complement the building’s original windows. Windows may be wood, metal clad wood, steel or other materials as appropriate. Multi-paned windows should have appropriate muntin bars. 

5. New additions shall not result in the obstruction or removal of heritage attributes of the building or the HCD. 

6. Cladding materials for additions to Grade I buildings will be sympathetic to the existing building. For instance, an addition to a brick building could be clad in wood board and batten siding. Natural materials are preferred. 

Document 9 – Landscape Plan  

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