Behind the scenes photos of ‘secret’ 1895 building makeover

On the busy throughway of Somerset Street West residents in the area might take notice to an old building that recently got a facelift.

While the construction was minimal on the outside—due to it being from 1895— inside a complete transformation was taking place.

DS Studio, led by architects, and best friends, Dina Sarhane and Leila Emmrys, gutted the inside of the former bed and breakfast, completing making it into a new space. They were instructed to create a modern but functional space for The Royal Society of Canada, which is an organization that aims to recognize “exceptional” achievements from arts and humanities, social sciences and science.

Although the building itself is not a designated heritage structure by the City of Ottawa, the area it’s in is a heritage conservation district, meaning it is historically significant to the community.

“Because we were putting an addition on and replacing some things around the outside, anything that’s visible from the street had to go through through heritage,” Emmrys told CityNews in an interview.

The building had fallen into some disrepair over the years so the designers had to replace portions of it. Additions to older buildings can be a “sensitive” topic. Emmrys said they designed the building to match a brick to the older one but the change would be slight.

The goal with the design was to open up the society to the outside world and bring in the community, Sarhane said. To do that, the building needed to have larger “animated” windows where onlookers could peer inside to the lectures, gatherings and celebrations the organization has.

“The older structure it was extremely closed off from the street, and it was actually a big secret, like what happens in this building,” she said.

However, the building has been revitalized into a new form, allowing people to gather but also looking like less of a mystery, a goal both Emmrys and Sarhane and the organization had for the structure.

Below is a gallery of the new building mixed with some before photos to showcase the differences: