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Backgrounder
Pierre Elliott Trudeau Judicial Building
The Pierre Elliott Trudeau Judicial Building will accommodate the Federal
Court of Appeal, The Federal Court, the Court Martial Appeal Court of Canada,
the Tax Court of Canada, and the Courts Administration Service.
The building is named in honour of Pierre Elliott Trudeau, Canada's fifteenth
Prime Minister.
Mr. Trudeau, former Prime Minister, Minister of Justice, Member of Parliament,
lawyer and author, had a profound effect on the nation in advancing civil rights
and civil liberties by patriating the Canadian Constitution and by establishing
the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
As Minister of Justice under Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson, Mr. Trudeau
was responsible for reforming divorce laws, liberalizing the laws on abortion
and removing laws against homosexual sex from the Criminal Code.
As Prime Minister, Mr. Trudeau was also known for passing the Official
Languages Act, which in part guarantees a bilingual civil service, and the Canadian
Human Rights Act, as well as introducing the Multiculturalism Act.
About the building:
The building will be constructed on a site adjacent to the Supreme Court
of Canada building, on the northeast corner of Wellington and Lyon Streets.
The building is a design-to-cost project with a firm budget of $151 million.
The new facility will give the Courts much needed space to handle their
current increased workload. It allows them to implement the newly proclaimed
Courts Administration Service Act (making structural reforms to the Federal
Court of Canada, changing the status of the Tax Court of Canada to that of a
superior court, and establishing the Courts Administration Service). The building
will effectively consolidate the Courts' and the Courts Administration Service's
operations which are now located in seven different buildings in the National
Capital Region.
The 34,000 square metre building has been designed by the consultant
team of NORR Architects and Engineers Limited in association with Carlos Ott
Architect and Edmundson Matthews Architects.
The design includes a mansard-style "façade" which reflects
the architecture of the other buildings on Parliament Hill
The goal was to design a modern building that will project an appropriate
identity and image of "dignity and respect" for the Courts while at
the same time symbolically and visually completing Parliament Hill and the Judicial
Precinct (Supreme Court of Canada, Justice Building, and federal judicial building).
As the final component in the grouping of three judicial buildings, its
placement creates a judicial precinct, to be known as St. Laurent Square. It
matches the height and mass of the Justice Building, located symmetrically across
St. Laurent Square. The main entrance of each of the three buildings faces towards
the square, which emphasizes the Supreme Court in the central position as the
architectural and symbolic centrepiece of the Canadian judicial system.
Floors 1 and 2: Courtrooms, security screening facilities, document delivery
desk adjoining public atrium and other associated spaces
Floors 3 to 5: Administration services
Floors 6 to 9: Judges' chambers
Two-level parking garages
The building's exterior consists of sandstone, copper, glass and steel.
The landscaping includes paving (pre-cast and granite), grass, shrubs
and trees.
This design has been approved by the National Capital Commission (NCC)
after detailed review by its Advisory Committee on Planning Design and Realty
(ACPDR), and by PWGSC's National Design Review Committee both of which are responsible
for ensuring that urban design and heritage guidelines are followed.
The building will be designed, built and operated in a way that gives
careful consideration to modern principles of sustainable development (i.e.,
water and energy conservation measures, waste reduction and recycling of materials),
specifically to the Silver level of the LEED™ (Leadership in Energy and
Environmental Design) Green Building Rating System.
Schedule:
Summer 2004: Tender call for the site preparation.
Summer 2004: Tender call for first construction package.
Late summer 2004: Submission to Treasury Board requesting Effective Project
Approval and authority to contract.
Fall 2004: Site preparation to begin.
Fall 2007: Delivery of building to the Courts Administration Service who
will then begin installation of their specific information technology, security
and other equipment.
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