Doors Open Ottawa: June 6 & 7

hackunion · #1 Posted **Jun 4, 2009, 10:13 PM**

In case you forgot

http://www.ottawa.ca/residents/heritage/doorsopen/

Doors Open is this weekend. Isn't anyone excited? I am very keen on visiting the new Fumihiko Maki building on Sussex, and although the Embassy of France is unfortunately not on the list this year, it seems they made up for it by opening the Library of Parliament on Sparks street and the rooftop garden of the CD Howe building. The weather is supposed to be great, so it should be an excellent weekend to go and check out some architecture.

AuxTown · #2 Posted **Jun 5, 2009, 1:17 AM**

I'm on call all weekend but would love to see some pictures please!

waterloowarrior · #3 Posted **Jun 6, 2009, 8:20 PM**

I went to Delegation of the Ismaili Imamat, City of Ottawa Archives, and the gardens outside Rideau Hall (wanted to go in, but there was a long wait for a tour). It was a great day to be outside, and downtown was filled with pedestrians and cyclists.

Didn't have a camera, so no pics

rodionx · #4 Posted **Jun 6, 2009, 9:31 PM**

We saw a whole bunch of buildings in the downtown core. Highlights would be the green roof on the CD Howe building, and the tour of NCC headquarters on Elgin. The three-sided view from the twelfth floor is amazing.

Kitchissippi · #5 Posted **Jun 7, 2009, 1:52 AM**

I went mostly to the buildings along Sussex. Although my dislike for the exterior cladding of the Delegation of the Ismaili Imamat remains (reminds me too much of foamcore models in architecture school) the interior is absolutely enchanting especially when the bright sunlight plays with the patterned shadows and textures under the glass atrium.

I am intrigued how they managed to cast these metal latices

ajldub · #6 Posted **Jun 7, 2009, 2:08 PM**

Thanks for the photos Kitchissippi. A very special building and probably the most underdiscussed on this forum...

harls · #7 Posted **Jun 8, 2009, 12:54 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kitchissippi

I am intrigued how they managed to cast these metal latices

Giant mechanical bees?

Nice pics!!

canabiz · #8 Posted **Jun 6, 2015, 11:00 PM**

We only had time to check out the Connaught building and the Embassy of France today. The first one was a real let-down, we were only allowed to go up to the 8th floor and the whole tour took less than 5 minutes to complete.

The second one, however, was a real surprise. I have to say this is 1 of our favorite building thus far and we have been doing Doors Open for about 3 years and been to dozens different buildings. Incredible decor with some very unique touch that you will never find anywhere else (birch bark for wall and ceiling to absorb smokes, how about that?)

Here are some shots for your viewing pleasure. I will try to visit Vietnam House in the Glebe tomorrow before attending the 2nd FIFA soccer game between Germany and Ivory Coast.

Go Team Canada Go!

mykl · #9 Posted **Jun 8, 2015, 3:26 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by canabiz

We only had time to check out the Connaught building and the Embassy of France today. The first one was a real let-down, we were only allowed to go up to the 8th floor and the whole tour took less than 5 minutes to complete.

That's better than when I went to the Connaught building a few years ago and they would only let us look at the lobby! Which doesn't even have anything worth looking at!

I made it to several sites this year and had a great time. Embassies, Laurier House (can't believe I've never been... also can't believe they turned the seance room into the air conditioner room, rather than putting that equipment in a servant's bedroom or something which is currently off limits anyway!). Also say the accelerator mass-spectrometer at the advanced research building at uOttawa, a couple Elgin churches and the traffic control center! After several years, I'm running out of locations haha.

Radster · #10 Posted **Jun 8, 2015, 2:20 PM**

Do they provide free refreshments at the Embassies on doors open days?

I did the traffic control centre since I live 2 streets away. I didn't expect the tour to last 1 hour, I enjoyed it. I also went to the O train maintenance facility.

How can you run out of places to visit? There are over 100 each year!

mykl · #11 Posted **Jun 8, 2015, 7:50 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Radster

Do they provide free refreshments at the Embassies on doors open days?

How can you run out of places to visit? There are over 100 each year!

Armenia had water with lemon and strawberries in it. Croatia gave delicious chocolates. The Church of St John the Evangelist on Elgin St gave lemonade and cookies, and they let us ring the bell! Sadly, the only refreshments provided by Le Cordon Bleu was water. lol

As for running out of places to visit, I visited 9 places this year alone. I've been going for years, and there are often repeat buildings. Some are too far away because I don't drive, and some I'm truly not interested in. Add that all up, and eventually I'll run out!

canabiz · #12 Posted **Jun 8, 2015, 8:05 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by mykl

Armenia had water with lemon and strawberries in it. Croatia gave delicious chocolates. The Church of St John the Evangelist on Elgin St gave lemonade and cookies, and they let us ring the bell! Sadly, the only refreshments provided by Le Cordon Bleu was water. lol

As for running out of places to visit, I visited 9 places this year alone. I've been going for years, and there are often repeat buildings. Some are too far away because I don't drive, and some I'm truly not interested in. Add that all up, and eventually I'll run out!

I believe there are shuttle buses that you can take advantage of...and dare I say it Uber

http://www.ottawatourism.ca/ottawa-i...s-open-ottawa/

If you have never been out to the Diefenbunker (Carp) or Watson's Mill (Manotick), those are buildings and sights to behold

On another note, the Doors Open co-ordinator replied to my email and said they will consider my proposal for next year...no guarantee though but there is no harm in asking

canabiz · #13 Posted **Jun 8, 2015, 3:33 PM**

I've been to the U.S., France, Japan embassies and the British High Commission but I don't recall getting any refreshments.

On a related note, I hope you were able to get some FIFA tickets, Radster. I was all set to go yest but had a gout attack and I simply couldn't walk

lrt's friend · #14 Posted **Jun 8, 2015, 5:20 PM**

I volunteer for Doors Open every year. It gives a couple of smaller organizations some publicity and we work together. It was a fun couple of days and there were lots of interesting people to talk to. We offered refreshments and we were interviewed for future newspaper article in the Ottawa South News. I need to follow-up with the reporter.

Radster · #15 Posted **Jun 8, 2015, 6:07 PM**

Thats too bad canabiz! But yes, I bought a couple tickets this morning with that discount code, to the double header on June 17th, also section G, row 28, which I think is near where you had seats. Will be fun I am sure, finally getting my GF out to TD Place!

canabiz · #16 Posted **Jun 8, 2015, 6:23 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Radster

Thats too bad canabiz! But yes, I bought a couple tickets this morning with that discount code, to the double header on June 17th, also section G, row 28, which I think is near where you had seats. Will be fun I am sure, finally getting my GF out to TD Place!

Hope you guys enjoy! Yes the gout was bad but I'm glad it happened now & we are able to treat it before we embark on an European trip in couple of weeks, certainly don't want this to ruin the trip, we will be walking a lot and not to mention possible costs if we had to go to the hospital overseas...

Back to Doors Open, I emailed the City a number of places that I'd like to see open to the public next year (Kuwaiti and Saudi Arabia embassies, Canada Post Mail Processing Plant and Canadian Bank Note building on Richmond)...The first 2 might be a tough sell and I expect certain dress codes if we got the go-ahead but it's worth trying...they are located on Sussex and everytime I walked by those 2 to visit the other buildings, I always wonder *what if they are open too?*

canabiz · #17 Posted **May 17, 2016, 12:26 AM**

Full list of buildings now available. This year event will run on Saturday June 4th and Sunday June 5th.

http://ottawa.ca/cgi-bin/doors/2016.pl

I will probably visit the French Embassy (need to sign up ahead of time), the Ottawa Jail Hostel, and TD Place, time permitting.

I'll see if I can visit Le Cordon Bleu on Sunday as well.

canabiz · #18 Posted **Jun 4, 2016, 9:11 PM**

I visited the Ottawa Jail Hostel, the Ottawa City Hall including the Heritage Building and the Ottawa Sports Hall of Fame and TD place today. Got 2 complimentary tickets to the Ottawa Fury game next Friday

I wanted to visit Shopify but it was full by the time I got there around 13:15. They will be open again tomorrow at 09:30 but I am undecided because they are calling for 90% chance of rain. We shall see as I also want to visit the Beckta Dining and Wine Bar which is in the same building as Shopify and Le Cordon Bleu which is just up the street. Both places will only open for Doors Open tomorrow.

JCL · #19 Posted **Jun 4, 2016, 11:10 PM**

Went to TD Place, Police Foundations Building (Algonquin College Building P), and Canadian Guide Dogs for the Blind.

Tomorrow, I'll be going to the Ottawa Fire Services Training Centre, Ottawa Paramedic Services, NRC Wind Tunnel, and Canadian Space Services.

Uhuniau · #20 Posted **Jun 5, 2016, 5:22 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by JCL

Went to TD Place, Police Foundations Building (Algonquin College Building P), and Canadian Guide Dogs for the Blind.

Tomorrow, I'll be going to the Ottawa Fire Services Training Centre, Ottawa Paramedic Services, NRC Wind Tunnel, and Canadian Space Services.

Would highly recommend anyone downtown take in the John A Macdonald building and the Wellington Building renos, both on Wellington across from Parliament Hill.