The Senate of Canada Building invites visitors to experience the architecture, art and history of its 110-year-old building, through an online virtual tour.

The former train station ? now the Senate?s temporary home while Parliament Hill?s Centre Block undergoes rehabilitation ? allows virtual visitors to see relics from the country?s early days of railway travel, artworks that have been temporarily relocated, and the refurbishments that have allowed senators to continue debating legislation in their new home.

Photo by Doublespace Photography.
The tour provides more in-depth information, and also serves as a resource for teachers who are looking for fun, interactive ways to bring the Senate into the classroom.

The engine behind the choose-your-own-adventure-style virtual tour is the Carleton Immersive Media Studio (CIMS), an internationally renowned research team affiliated with Carleton University?s Azrieli School of Architecture and Urbanism. The 10-person team spent months turning the Beaux-Arts building into an online panorama.
CIMS director Stephen Fai and team lead Abhijit Dhanda photographed the building in August and September 2021. The pair used a fisheye lens to capture photos, then stitched them together to create a seamless digital rendering of the building?s high-ceilinged interior.
?It was definitely a lot emptier in the Senate of Canada Building because of the pandemic,? Mr. Dhanda said. ?There weren?t very many people in the building compared to w...