Damage to the sunroom of the Hungarian embassy building. They were sustained in an earthquake three years ago and have not yetbeen repaired.
The Hungarian embassy in Centretown – a century-old heritage building on Metcalfe Street –– will be undergoing construction to its sunroom after it sustained damage in the earthquake that struck Ottawa in 2010.
In June 2010, an earthquake measuring 5.0 on the Richter scale shook Ottawa and the surrounding region, leaving visible cracks down the outer wall of the embassy and into its foundation. A large rift in the interior floor of the sunroom has made it virtually unusable, according to embassy officials. Small fissures along the chimney and parapet have defaced the Victorian mansion, known as Birkett Castle, that houses the embassy.
In early September, an application by the embassy and CSV Architects to restore the sunroom was approved by the city’s built heritage and planning committees. According to Ontario Heritage Act, city council approval is required for any changes to designated heritage buildings.
The decision comes after years of structural deterioration of the embassy building, which was made worse by the earthquake three years ago. According to the CSV application, cracks in the building’s exterior worsened and the sunroom began to separate from the building after the quake.
As well, the heritage site faces geological issues. According to samples taken by CSV experts, the soil is made of “grey, high plasticity clay,” which can lead to shifting of the structure above.
“Clay soils are more unpredictable than other types of soils, and when the moisture in the clay changes, buildings on those soils can move,” says CSV’s Peter Simister.
“That’s what happened at the embassy,” he says, “Part of the building has moved separately from the rest of it.”
To fix these issues, Simister says they’ll have to build a new foundation for the sunroom that will be designed for the amount of weight the clay soil can tolerate.
“It seems the current foundation has a smaller frame which imposes too much weight on the soil. Our structural engineer will design a wider footing that will spread that weight,” says Simister.
To fix the damage to the sunroom, the architects plan to deconstruct and rebuild the structure using salvaged original materials from the bricks, stone, windows and doors, as well as the existing concrete stone to fill the foundation, he says.
Simister says CSV Architects will keep in mind the principles of heritage restoration to retain as much of the existing fabric as possible.
“Our objective is to restore the building a close as possible to its original state,” he says.
The existing sunroom replaced the original patio of the building, which was built as an extension to the mansion. According to the embassy, the clay soil was not taken into account, leading to many of the problems the building now faces.
The mansion was built in 1896 and was home to Thomas Birkett, a former member of Parliament and mayor of Ottawa. The building is called Birkett Castle due to its distinctive towers and parapet. It was designated a heritage site in 1980.
“It’s a stunning example of Victorian design, and the work that they are doing there is really going to perpetuate the quality of that,” says Leslie Maitland, president of Heritage Ottawa, a non-governmental organization that seeks to preserve heritage sites in Ottawa.
“It’s an absolute gem and very important to the history of Ottawa,” says Maitland.