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Energy Centres

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The New Cliff Energy Centre – Reclaiming Public Realm in the Heart of Historic Ottawa

The Cliff Energy Centre is located next to the Supreme Court of Canada and replaced the original Cliff Heating and Cooling Plant. The project architects came up with an ingenious idea to transform a prime location that was formerly inaccessible to the public. The large energy facility is below-grade of the Ottawa River escarpment’s upper plateau, allowing for an expansive urban park to be built over top, with new public realm and lush gardens. In order to preserve and enhance the historic profile of the Ottawa River’s south bank, the Cliff Energy Centre’s building envelope consists of an organically flowing "curtain" designed to screen and softly hide the mechanical facility.

The New Tunney's Pasture Energy Centre – A New Urban Park Replaces a Former Parking Lot

The Tunney's Pasture Energy Centre was built in the northwest corner of the Tunney’s Pasture campus, replacing an existing parking lot. The building's modern exterior will include a sloping roof garden, a new park, footpaths through the site, and elevated views of the Ottawa River, contributing to the campus’ transformation from a single-use employment centre into a vibrant transit-oriented and sustainable mixed-use community. By creating a new publicly accessible realm in a space that was originally reserved for cars, the Tunney’s Pasture Energy Centre becomes one of the new faces of clean energy in Canada.

The Gatineau Energy Centre (GEC) – From “Grey to Green” in the Heart of Gatineau

The Gatineau Energy Centre (GEC) is one of the most sustainable cutting-edge energy centres in North America. Located on a former surface parking lot next to the National Printing Bureau on Sacré-Coeur Boulevard in Hull, Gatineau, the facility is built mostly underground, allowing for the space over top to be used as an expansive urban park, with lush gardens and courtyards. Connected to Hydro Québec’s clean electrical grid, GEC provides low-carbon heating and cooling for buildings located along the district energy system’s network of underground pipes, in the cores of Gatineau and Ottawa.

The GEC pumphouse was also constructed along the Ottawa River’s north shore to provide GEC with a green and renewable source of cold water for the energy centre’s cooling services. The facility’s green roof and naturalized landscape will blend in with the banks along the Ottawa River.

A Modern, Clean Energy Centre for a Revitalized Confederation Heights

The Confederation Heights Energy Centre is located within the Confederation Heights campus, replacing outdated infrastructure with a modernized facility. The building’s upgrades include new boilers and chillers, structural steel enhancements, a new roof, and underground piping to connect the Energy Centre to other buildings within the campus.

As the Confederation Heights Master Plan progresses, the Energy Centre contributes to transforming this car-centric federal employment hub into a vibrant, transit-oriented, and sustainable mixed-use community. By modernizing critical systems and improving efficiency, the Confederation Heights Energy Centre becomes one of the new faces of clean energy in Canada.

ESAP’s modernized energy centres will be the new faces of low carbon energy globally – they are designed to be architecturally pleasing, adding to the community’s use and enjoyment with gardens, courtyards, with improved connections for walking and cycling.
The project also included the conversion and decommissioning of four older heating and cooling plants:
  • The Cliff Heating and Cooling Plant (built in 1916)
  • The Tunney’s Pasture Heating and Cooling Plant (built in 1953)
  • The National Printing Bureau Heating and Cooling Plant in Hull (built in 1949)
  • The National Research Council Heating and Cooling Plant (built in 1930).