Senate Foyer

The design of the Senate Foyer succeeds in blending artistic elegance with functionality.

Photo: © 2001 Library of Parliament

Visitors to the Senate Foyer are often impressed by its dignified elegance. The Foyer is framed by a series of columns and arches rising to the ceiling. A second arcade with columns of rose-coloured limestone (its reddish tinge chosen for its historical association with the Upper House) adds to the refined appearance of the space.

Under flashes of red and the royal gaze of past sovereigns, the Senate Foyer reveals that Canada is a constitutional monarchy. It is the dignified ceremonial entrance to the Senate Chamber where the sovereign or her representative the Governor General addresses Parliament. Its artisanship reveals the struggles and successes of Canada and Parliament's evolution with reverence and even humour.

Photo: © 2001 Library of Parliament

Eight paintings of past kings and queens line the Foyer walls. The portraits of King George IV and Queen Victoria are original; the latter having been saved from flames four times.

The foyer is also the backdrop for several of the traditions that link the Senate to its origins. The chamber officials dressed in sombre black robes as part of the Speaker's Parade, and the Usher of the Black Rod who summons the Members of the House of Commons, all pass through here.

In the vivid colours of the stained glass ceiling, royal symbols share space with provincial coats of arms and symbols of the founding peoples of Canada. The ceiling also includes the names of all the Senate Speakers up to its installation in 1920.

Under the ceiling sculptures pay tribute to the people and the events that shaped Canada before Confederation. These sculptures were completed by a team of four sculptors who decided to add to the legends they had carved. Without permission, they added their own faces to the foyer continuing the gothic tradition of including secret faces and signatures in buildings that took decades of work and hundreds of workers to complete.