Photo courtesy Roberta Gal PSPC
Focus on fenestration
Fenestration components were the focus of a great deal of attention by the Parliament Buildings’ designers, and are emphasized in some areas by natural stone accents such as distinctive ‘rubble’ stone treatments. With this design strategy, rough, unhewn, multicoloured building stone is set with great care in mortar, drawing the viewer’s attention to windows and doors and adding to well-defined balance to the building frontage.
The Parliament Buildings’ rows of symmetrical dormer windows—each of which originally had its own attractive slate roofcovering—and regular, well-portioned rows of pointed arch windows are among the architectural elements that make these buildings so recognizable and distinctive.
The original specifications for the structures’ windows, doors, and glazing were precise and very detailed. The material composition and operational requirements for all components were spelled out in concise terms, right down to the solid-brass fittings, cast-iron pulleys, and 63-mm (2 ½-in.), polished weathered-oak sills.
The original design documents (available in microfilm at the Library and Archives of Canada) detailed each and every component requirement and unit cost. Extracted from a document entitled Contract, Specifications, and Schedule of Prices of Departmental Buildings; Canada West; CW, dated 1859, one example reads:
Glazier; All windows to be fitted with the best British 32-ounce sheet glass/Laid in putty/Bradded and back-puttied as shewn. The outer and winter sashes to be similarly glazed with German sheet glass. Any windows in water closets or areas having borrowed light are to be glazed in obscured glass; All window frames and sashes to receive two coats of best quality paint and twice varnished.
Although the primary function of the building envelope (i.e. controlling movement of air, heat, radiation, and moisture) is vital, the façade must also provide strength and durability, as well as access and egress. In the Parliament Buildings, the façade also offers texture, definition, and architectural distinction.
This is accomplished in part by careful stone selection, incorporating more than 40,000 façade masonry units and stonework in many locations around windows and doors. More than 300 distinctive carvings and gargoyles, carefully sculpted in appealing Wallace sandstone, also bring the façade to life.
Although the actual component and material quantities are approximations—as the actual as-built construction often varied from drawings and construction documentation—the interior design features include more than 1200 interior doors and 6 ha (15 acres) of lathe and plaster.
