RETIREMENT AS RENEWAL
ONE COUPLE FINDS HOME AT 300 THE DRIVEWAY — A BILL TERON CONDO NEAR THE RIDEAU CANAL. UPDATED WITH AN OPEN-PLAN LAYOUT, THE SPACE IS ANYTHING BUT ’70S
300 The Driveway reflects 1970’s architecture and Bill Teron’s legacy. A peek inside one renovated unit
Emerging from careers in the foreign service, Elizabeth and Richard* were looking to move from their big old house in the Glebe into a condominium that was stylish and full of light. In this age of skyscraper condos with postage-stamp units, the building at 300 The Driveway is rather small, just 14 storeys high, but the apartments are large, with windows that wrap around the living room and take in sunsets and the downtown core. The couple were delightfully surprised that they found such a gem in the same neighbourhood that they had always loved.
Built in 1974, 300 The Driveway is one of the oldest condominium towers in Ottawa. When this building rose on the banks of Patterson Creek, interior design was different. Spaces were strictly separated: kitchens and bedrooms were walled off from living spaces, bedrooms were discreetly tucked away, and floors were typically finished with busy parquet. Today, we prefer large, visually integrated spaces. Here, that meant removing a long wall between the kitchen and the living room and
Though built nearly 50 years ago, 300 The Driveway has aged well — a testament to the quality that the developer brought to a groundbreaking project
replacing it with a massive stone-topped island. It involved widening a short, narrow corridor leading to the bedrooms and opening up single doors into double. The result has been a visual liberation and integration of spaces within the condominium.
Buying into renovation, this couple also bought into the adventure of working with architect Christopher Simmonds to transform some 1,600 square feet into exactly the stylish home they wanted. “It has been great fun,” Elizabeth says.
Moving from a large house, where art and furniture had been collecting for decades, was especially daunting, no matter how generous the new apartment’s proportions. And so the design challenge was a ruthless paring down. “We had to edit our belongings to make them fit,” she explains. That stern assessment has resulted in wonderful choices and the distribution throughout the apartment of a very fine collection of antique Moroccan ceramics, Australian Aboriginal art, and African carvings.
The colour scheme in the living room, which is drenched with light from large wraparound windows to the north and west, was established by a careful matching of spaces to furniture and art. A pair of pale gold sofas harmonizes perfectly with a large sun-washed painting of a Quebec village set, astonishingly, within the drifting sand tones of a Saharan sun. On another wall, an African marketplace — which the artist imagined as seen from above — is a riot of hot colour. The dominating palette, however, is of the earth — ranging from dark chocolate (wicker armchairs) to pale creams (the stone floor), whites, and greys. The living room carpet, with its complex lichenous pattern, absorbs the whole of that palette.
Though built nearly 50 years ago, 300 The Driveway has aged well — a testament to the quality that the developer brought to a groundbreaking project. The renovators have brought the same eye for elegant detail to the process of renewal. The large stone flags that replaced the old-style parquet run in an unbroken line from one end of the apartment to the other, visually uniting the bedroom wing with the study, living room, and kitchen. Where you might expect to see handles or
visible hardware, there are only clean lines. Colours float from deep cream upward into white. The effect is one of restful enlargement.
Think back to the 1970s, when Bill Teron — who died this year at age 85 — was leading the way with buildings like this. A native of Manitoba, Teron came to Ottawa as a young government draftsman. He made his first imprint on Ottawa as a suburban developer in the post-war period when cars were proliferating and civil servants were moving away from the centre. Later, he led the movement back to the downtown through the creation of pioneering condos like this one. As the Globe and Mail wrote recently, Teron was “an advocate for thoughtful planning and good design, dedicated to building good places and communities.” The city is now considering the building for cultural heritage recognition.
The best buildings have a quality of design and construction that survives the years and allows them, time and again, to be creatively reconceived. These newcomers to 300 The Driveway recognized quality when they saw it, and through own their commitment to good design and superb workmanship, they have laid down a strong framework for the next phase of their own lives. In renewing an old apartment, they have renewed themselves.