RGB Group constructs LEED Platinum, earthquake-immune residential building in Ottawa
Located at 101B Third Avenue on the site of a demolished wood-frame house, a new steel-framed four-level duplex by the RGB Group is being built to meet the stringent LEED Platinum green building standard and will be rated to withstand earthquakes the same as enduring modern commercial buildings.
Rolf Baumann, founder and CEO of The RGB Group, says, “We always enjoy trying new construction methods and materials, and this home makes sense both from a business and environmental standpoint.” The RGB Group’s design architect for this project is Malcolm Wildeboer, Principal at Ottawa’s Vandenberg & Wildeboer Architects. “The constraints of the narrow site led to unique design solutions ensuring the spaciousness expected of a high-end urban duplex. The proximity to the lot line required the use of non-combustible materials including the steel stud framing, which in-turn lead to the development of an entire light gauge steel design,” adds Wildeboer, “although contemporary in it's construction and interior space, the duplex will integrate comfortably with the heritage fabric of the Glebe through the extensive use of brick and the articulation of its facades with porches.”
The project, to be completed this fall, leads the way in exceeding Ottawa’s recently bolstered seismic residential building standards due to the city sitting on a known fault line. Ottawa is ranked third for earthquake risk among Canadian urban centres. Last summer’s quake was the strongest to hit the region in a century.
The steel-structured home sits on a lot measuring just 25 feet by 100, and Baumann says the finished project will be a 4,000 square foot duplex. There are minimal interior walls, so that means the steel structure had to be carefully designed to carry the load. Colin Davies, structural engineer on the project with Cleland–Jardine Engineering Ltd., says, “It’s been interesting to work on a challenging project that shows what is possible with new building techniques.”
