From Low-Rise to High-Rise

Abstract

This report compares two transit-adjacent high-rise buildings located in suburban neighbourhoods in Ottawa: the Metropole (32 stories), beside Westboro transit station, and the Classics at Riviera apartment building at 1480 Riverside Drive (29 stories), beside the Hurdman Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) station. The report will evaluate how both buildings are designed to integrate into their surrounding environment by analyzing building elements such as height, spatial separation, floor plate sizes and façade articulation, as well as the impacts these towers have on the public and private realms in terms of shadow, wind, views and privacy. The findings are used to determine whether the Bayview Yards, a suburban site at the western edge of downtown Ottawa and adjacent to the Bayview BRT station, is an appropriate location for a high-rise building. The findings are also used to make recommendations for a potential high-rise building at this site.