Approximately 350 kilometres northeast of Downtown Toronto's phalanx of cranes and construction sites, a potential landmark is soon to top off in Downtown Ottawa's Byward Market area. DevMcGill's 23-storey, mixed-use development—ArtHaus Residences at Arts Court—will be enriching this area of the nation's capital through an unprecedented mix of uses. An expansion of the adjacent Ottawa Art Gallery (OAG) will be complemented by new theatre space for the University of Ottawa, a boutique hotel, street-level retail, and 88 condominium units.

Construction of ArtHaus in Ottawa, image by Michael Ng

Designed by the team of Toronto-based KPMB Architects, Montréal's Régis Côté et Associés, and Ottawa's Barry Padolsky Associates Inc. Architects, the project's smallest volume is set to house the Canadian work-focused art gallery expansion, with a larger low-rise volume (above, left) to house the University of Ottawa, and a high-rise tower combining hotel and condo uses.

An overview of the mix of uses, click for a closer view, image courtesy of DevMcGill

The tower will contain the city’s first Le Germain Hotel on the lower levels, with the 88 ArtHaus Condominiums occupying floors 15 through 23. Suites will range in size from 450 ft² to 1,800 ft².

Construction of ArtHaus in Ottawa, image by Michael Ng

The University component reached structural completion last year, and by the start of 2017, the high-rise volume had reached a height of 17 storeys. In the weeks since, forming has progressed to the 21st floor, leaving just two residential levels to go before work starts on the building's mechanical penthouse. The most visible change to take place since our previous update has been the installation of vibrant green insulation and framing, which will soon be covered by the tower's envelope.

Construction of ArtHaus in Ottawa, image by Michael Ng

Over the course of the next few months, the installation of the cladding with its staggered window placement will bring the structure's aesthetic closer to the design outlined in pre-construction renderings, such as the image included below.

ArtHaus Residences at Ottawa Arts Court, image courtesy of DevMcGill

To find out more about ArtHaus—and see additional renderings—you can visit our dataBase file for the project, linked below. If you would like to get in on the conversation, you can click on the thread link which will take you to our sister Forum at SkyriseCities.com, or you can leave a comment in the space provided on this page.