Wellington Street - The Government and Judicial Centre

Wellington Street was once the banking centre of Ottawa, before the move to Sparks Street. Its proximity to Parliament Hill encouraged the creation of government office buildings as the civil service and legislative functions grew. The US Embassy also found the location attractive. Banking did not leave altogether. However the main growth in the third and fourth decades of the 20th century was in the judiciary,

This period and area witnessed the transition to modern classical styles, developed by architects whose training and experience was based on Beaux-Arts methods. This street also witnessed the last gasp of the formal Beaux-Arts of Jacques Gréber's post World War II urban planning .

At the end of the tour we can reflect on what happened to Sir Wilfrid Laurier's 1893 dream of a "Washington of the North".

Bank Street to Lyon Street:


former Metropolitan Life Building, now Wellington Building, House of Commons, 180 Wellington Street, at Bank Street (map M)
Dan Everett Waid and J. Albert Ewart, 1924-7 III
Bank of Canada, 234 Wellington Street (map N)
Marani & Lawson,1937 II
Major addition, Arthur Ericsson,1974-9
Justice Annex, (wartime temporary building), Vittoria Street (map P)
T.D. Rankin, directing architect, circa 1940
Supreme Court, Vittoria Street (map Q)
Ernest Cormier, 1938-9 II

East and West Memorial Buildings, 284 and 384 Wellington Street, at Lyon Street (map R)
Allward & Gouinlock, 1949-56 and 1954-56 I

Bank Street to Confederation Square:


former Norlite Building, now National Press Building, 150 Wellington Street (map S)
Richards & Abra and C.P. Meredith, 1917-19 II
Bank of Montreal, 144 Wellington Street, also 161 Sparks Street (map J)
E.I. Barott, 1929-1932 III
Victoria Building, 140 Wellington Street (map T)
J. Albert Ewart, 1927-28
former U.S. Embassy, planned National Portrait Gallery, 100 Wellington Street (map U)
Cass Gilbert Jr., 1928-1932 III
Parliament Buildings Centre Block, Parliament Hill (map V)
J.-O. Marchand and J.A. Pearson, 1916-1927 II

Tour finishes at Laurier Statue on Confederation Square, or return to the overview.