NCC approves Ottawa Hospital’s Civic campus Master Site Plan

It's another hurdle passed for the new Ottawa Hospital’s Civic campus.

The National Capital Commission board of directors announced on Tuesday that it had approved the Master Site Plan.

However, there are several factors that must be met during each phase of hospital construction for it to work for the NCC that include enhancing pedestrian and cycling connection, seamless and weather-protected connection to the Dows Lake LRT station and ensuring a green roof is maintained.

Workers will also have to minimize tree removal, as well as integrate measures that, by 2048, 65 per cent of the people arriving at the site do so via transit, or by walking or biking.

The commission’s design principles and performance criteria were used during the evaluation of the Master Site Place and contributed to preserving and reinforcing the site’s landscape with additional vegetation as well as incorporating an urban edge along Carling Avenue to accommodate transit use.

The NCC says the new hospital envisions a world-class healthcare facility that will be among the largest and most advanced in Canada.

The hospital is scheduled to open in 2028.

The site of the new campus is a 20-hectare (or 50-acre) federal property located at the eastern edge of the Central Experimental Farm on Carling Avenue near Dows Lake.

The land within the site boundaries is owned by Public Services and Procurement Canada.

The proposed Master Site Plan includes the primary hospital building, a parking garage capped with a publicly accessible green roof, a central utility plant positioned below grade, a research tower and mixed-use development along Carling Avenue, as well as a proposed connection to the Dows Lake LRT station.