Video: Centre Block construction update 2023

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[Music starts]

(Text on screen: Public Services and Procurement Canada)

[Text fades away to reveal an up-close aerial shot of the Centre Block Peace Tower clock with the Ottawa river in the background.]

[It rotates around the peace tower before changing to a shot of Centre Block from the front lawn showing cranes and the full building.]

The Centre Block is one of Canada’s most iconic and impressive buildings.

Now it is receiving a much-needed upgrade to restore and preserve it for future generations.

[Colourful lines swipe across to transition to Conservation workers preparing various mediums such as murals, stained glass and plaster work.]

Public Services and Procurement Canada and its partners worked on a number of projects between April 2022 and March 2023.

Let’s take a look at what we’ve done in the past year.

[Colourful lines swipe across to transition to an outside shot of the large excavation pit in front of Centre Block showing the current work being.]

It’s hard to miss the 23-metre-deep excavation in front of Centre Block, which will be home to the new Parliament Welcome Centre.

[The image switches to a digital rendering of the expected new site design, the camera start at the entrance outside and then jumps inside and moves through the modern hallways as digital representations of people enjoy the space. The image returns outside to the excavation pit.]

(Text on screen: Concept designs)

This underground facility will offer a more welcoming experience for visitors while providing additional space.

[A series of shots from above show the work being done in the pit. Excavators and trucks move debris as workers move about the large space. Various equipment and rock breaking machines are shown.]

Main excavation began in spring 2020 and is mostly complete as of the end of March 2023. More than 40,000 truckloads of bedrock have been removed from the site.

In 2024, work will begin on the main concrete structure for the Parliament Welcome Centre.

[Colourful lines swipe across to transition to the exterior of Centre block as workers prepare the decorative tarp known as trompe l'oeil which show an image of the complete Centre Block.]

In the last year, a decorative tarp, known as a trompe l’oeil, was installed on the north façade of the building.

[The image switches to a worker lowering a panel of the special coverings into place.]

[The image switches to a wide shot from above displaying how the panels together provide the illusion of a single image.]

[Various stages of the installation are shown as workers install blank sheets and then the image printed sheets, showing how the image comes together.]

Trompe l’oeil stands for “trick of the eye” and shows a realistic image of Centre Block.

The tarps help control the temperature inside the scaffold and protect workers from extreme weather conditions while also improving the visual experience during construction.

A trompe l’oeil will eventually cover the entire building.

[Colourful lines swipe across to transition to work being done on the exterior walls. A series of stonemasons on the stone wall.]

Behind the tarps, crews are restoring and repairing the exterior masonry of the Centre Block. On the north wall alone, there are more than 27,000 stones.

[A stonemason uses a specialized tool which runs a line of lasers across the stone.]

Stonemasons use laser cleaning to vaporize dirt from the stones and carvings.

[A shot of the North side is shown rising up. The workers are in various stages of installing the panels.]

Masonry work on the north façade is complete, and work on the north towers is expected to continue through 2024.

[Colourful lines swipe across to transition to inside the building, worker in protective gear carries a fine moulding, another worker removes debris from the back of a mural, another worker chisels at bricks to remove an element and finally workers are shown removing more debris from heritage elements.]

Meanwhile, inside the building, demolition is nearly complete. So far, crews have removed more than 9.6 million kilograms of hazardous materials.

[Images of the various items being removed are shown. The Speakers chair is removed on a specialized wooden rig, another image shows fine stained-glass panels being removed and packaged. Another image shows conservationists looking over stonework that will remain in place.]

Before demolition began, heritage assets, including artwork, stained glass, and woodwork, were either carefully removed from the building and stored for safekeeping, or protected in situ.

Many of these heritage features are undergoing restoration work.

[Colourful lines swipe across to transition to show the bells within the Centre Block Peace Tower.]

[Close ups of the inner workers are shown, including the cables that ring the bells as well as the clappers.]

This includes the removal of the carillon’s bells from the Peace Tower.

[Workers prepare the carillon to be disassembled from inside the playing booth. Another image shows the bells hanging before an image of a bell being removed from the building by a worker is shown.]

Twenty-two of the fifty-three bells, along with other carillon components such as clappers, were removed from the building.

[An image of a Canadian forces airplane on the tarmac is shown as the bells are being loaded into the plane in crates. Various angles of the crates being loaded are shown.]

The removed carillon bells have been transported to the Netherlands to be restored by one of the top carillon specialists in the world.

[Workers continue to restore the bells on site using laser cleaning and other methods in a short series of images.]

The larger bells will remain in the Peace Tower belfry and will undergo restoration work on site.

[Colourful lines swipe across to transition to show workers preparing murals for removal.]

In 2022, conservation treatment began on several murals painted by artist Arthur Crisp.

[Workers roll a mural and prepare it for transportation. The images switches to the offsite restoration worksite where a close up of fine detail work is being done on the murals. A worker used a swab to remove the protective facing, before the image switches to the clean image of the Spirit of the Printed Word laid out on a table waiting for restoration. Various close ups show the deterioration and need for work.]

The artwork was taken to an offsite studio where conservators performed delicate work.

The murals will remain in storage until they can safely be put back in the Centre Block.

[Colourful lines swipe across to transition to Frescos on the walls of Centre Block.]

[Images of the fine painted images are shown, depicting Canadian life and historical events. A worker prepares specialized rigs to remove the wall portions.]

Frescoes were also removed from the building so they can undergo conservation treatment.

A fresco is a type of painting technique that involves painting directly onto wet plaster.

[Two workers are shown lowering a portion of removed Fresco.]

A team of experts carefully cut and lowered each fresco from the wall.

[Colourful lines swipe across to show an aerial shot of the top of the Peace Tower close up. The image switches a shot of the top of the Peace Tower waving the Canadian flag.]

The major work being undertaken now will ensure the Centre Block will continue serving Canadians for generations.

[A wide shot from across the lawn shows the entire Centre Block.]

[A close up of the peace tower clock is show with scaffolds around the base. The image switches to a rotating shot which moves around the clock.]

Once completed, the Centre Block will be carbon-neutral, more accessible and better equipped to support visitors and Parliamentarians for decades to come.

[Colourful lines swipe across to transition to an image of photo the Parliamentary Precinct multimedia gallery that online at Parliamentary Precinct multimedia gallery]

To see some of this work in more detail, be sure to visit the photo and video galleries on the Centre Block Project website.

(Text on screen: Special thanks for the shared video form our colleagues at: Senate of Canada)

(Text on screen: Check us out: facebook.com/PSPC.SPAC, instagram.com/pspc_spac, twitter.com/pspc_spac, youtube.com/PWGSCanada)

(Text on screen: 978-0-660-49970-3, Catalogue P4-124/2023E-MP4)

[Music stops]

(Public Services and Procurement Canada signature)

(Canada Wordmark)

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