Canadian firms Diamond Schmitt Architects and KWC Architects have completed the transformation of a historic 20th-century train station in Ottawa into the temporary home for Canada's upper house of parliament.
The Senate of Canada Building will provide an interim meeting place for the country's senators, while its nearby home in the capital city, Centre Block on Parliament Hill, undergoes restoration.

Designed by Toronto-based Diamond Schmitt Architects and local firm KWC Architects, the project involved the restoration and overhaul of the city's former central train station.
Located at 2 Rideau Street, the structure was built in 1912 and provides an example of the beaux-arts architectural style, which originated at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, and flourished from the mid 19th-century to the end of the 20th-century. Beaux-arts is known for its mix of the decorative French neoclassic, gothic and renaissance styles, alongside modern materials like iron and glass.
Diamond Schmitt Architects and KWC Architects worked Toronto-based ERA Architects as the heritage consultant on the project, to respect the landmark's original features. The team expanded the long-neglected blank eastern facade with a glass addition that Diamond Schmitt says is "reimagined as a modern interpretation of the building's stone-columned, beaux-arts facade".
Inside, the project involved updating the general waiting room and concourse, and adding new committee and meeting rooms, offices...