In late June, Prime Minister Mark Carney launched the competition to pick a Canadian company to renovate 24 Sussex Dr., which has been uninhabitable for 11 years.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press
The federal government has set a tight timeline for companies to register their interest in renovating 24 Sussex Dr., the official residence of Canada’s prime minister that has been closed for 11 years because of its physical decline.
In a statement Wednesday, Public Services and Procurement Canada announced an Aug. 15 deadline and said it will soon be setting up the rules for the competition. A winner is expected to be announced by Canada Day next year.
PSPC spokesperson Jean-Francois Létourneau said in the statement that additional details about the competition process will be released this fall.
In late June, Prime Minister Mark Carney launched the competition to pick a Canadian company to renovate 24 Sussex Dr., which was first built in 1868, and was home for prime ministers between 1951 and 2015.
Former prime ministers Jean Chrétien and Stephen Harper, a Liberal and Conservative, are expected to work together to help raise money for the project, the Rideau Hall Foundation has said. The charity is aiming to raise $50-million toward the renovation.
The Royal Architecture Institute of Canada is administering the competition, with a jury of architects, and the leadership of noted architect Moshe Safdie.
The public services department will establish the design and building requirements and qualified proponents will then develop and submit integrated proposals for the residence that housed nine Canadian prime ministers before it fell into such disrepair that Justin Trudeau was not allowed to live there when he became prime minister in 2015.
By Wednesday afternoon, there were 13 companies on a list of businesses interested in partnering for the project posted on the federal department’s website.
They were a mix of architecture, painting, building and millwork operations looking to team up for the competition, which calls for both designing the renovation and carrying out the required construction work. Prospective builders will have to submit commitments for their project budget and schedule.
Tara Castator of Toronto-based Househouse Architects Inc., represents one of the companies that has indicated its interest in the project. Househouse, which specializes in full-service home renovations, said partnership will be necessary for competitors because architects can’t be general contractors and general contractors can’t be architects.
“You have to work together to get the job done,” she said in response to e-mailed questions from The Globe.
Ms. Castator said she is 100-per-cent certain she will not end up working on the actual project because her company isn’t qualified enough on paper. “But I will probably still work on a design anyway for the fun of it,” she said.
“The dining room alone needs to be a work of art for the guests it will inevitably host.”
A camera operator records images in the dining room during a tour of 24 Sussex Dr. on June 26.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press
Mary Ellen Lynch, of the Toronto company Lynch+Comisso: Architecture + Light, said her company, which has also expressed interest, can lead or participate in the planning and design, but expertise is required for the construction.
“The project will require a large number of specialized sub-consultants on the team to create the design and a competent constructor and subcontractors to deliver it,” she said.
“If they are all on the same team, costs can be managed progressively throughout the planning and construction stages.”
“As architects who are routinely involved in renovation, restoration and adaptive re-use projects, we have followed the saga of this residence for decades,” said Ms. Lynch, whose company has worked on various heritage home renovations.
Although not listed among the companies, Canadian hardware giant RONA Inc. has indicated its interest in the project.
In a statement to The Globe and Mail, RONA’s media relations desk said the company would be willing to provide products, expertise and service required for the 24 Sussex Dr. restoration.
Editorial: The restoration of 24 Sussex is worth the price
Stephanie Cadieux, Canada’s Chief Accessibility Officer, said she hopes that accessibility is factored into the eventual redesign of the residence.
Ms. Cadieux noted that a prime minister, their family, staff or visitors may live with a disability.
“When it comes to building and renovation projects, accessibility should be factored in from the very start so as to avoid costly future retrofits,” Ms. Cadieux said in a statement.
She said that the Accessible Canada Act, which outlines a commitment to create a barrier-free country by New Year’s Day in 2040, applies to all federally regulated buildings, and that includes 24 Sussex Dr.