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Over the years, the firm of +VG Architects has had a hand in the design of more than 40 city halls across Ontario, either in the form of new projects or in the adaptive reuse of heritage structures. A case in point is the town hall in Milton, winner of an award for historic restoration from the Ontario Public Works Association.
MILTON, Ont.
Over the years, the firm of +VG Architects has had a hand in the design of more than 40 city halls across the province, either in the form of new projects or in the adaptive reuse of heritage structures.
A case in point is the new $18-million town hall in Milton, recent winner of a project of the year award from the Ontario Public Works Association. The category was historic restoration greater than $10 million.
“We liked the way the new town hall maintains the existing heritage forms while updating them to modernity,” said Robert Penner, chair of the association’s awards committee.
Completed early last year by Atlas Constructors Inc., the project added 50,000 square feet of municipal office space. It is the latest component in a civic campus on a central block that dates back to 1854.
In 1985, the firm restored and renovated the original municipal buildings, a castle-like courthouse built in 1854 and a jail and jail yard added in 1877.
The architects then designed a new wing that functioned as the city hall until Milton’s rapid growth mandated further expansion.
The new structure preserves the architectural heritage of the town hall site, supporting its traditional role as the civic heart of Milton, said +VG, formerly The Ventin Group.
The firm said the building’s forms, materials and scale take their cue from the local context.
“In this way, the expansion complements the historic town hall buildings, providing up to date facilities that meet Milton’s growing needs and act as a contemporary expression of the city’s civic identity.”
Situated on the eastern boundary of the site, the new building “reinterprets” architectural motifs of the stone wall and arched openings of the original structures. The materials selection and the detailing of the addition “echo” the layering of historic and modern created by the different generations of building.
The stone walls are constructed of local limestone to maintain an authentic connection with the existing structure.
A variety of massing elements reconcile the scale of the new building with the existing buildings on the site and in the surrounding neighbourhood.
Monumental forms — the civic typologies of tower and town square — mark the new main entrance, while the street façades are patterned with the rhythm of the residential fabric. Generous setbacks allow for the retention of mature trees along adjacent streets, giving a “front-yard” quality, while wrapping the green space of Victoria Park Square around the edges of the block.
The design concept reinterprets the rock and river of the Niagara escarpment as a dramatic stone face and water feature in the new civic square.
The green roof of the underground parking garage creates a garden at grade along the east façade, with plots of native plantings to reflect the agricultural heritage of Milton.
Gardens throughout the site also articulate seasonal variation. Indoor and outdoor spaces “flow seamlessly” with the same stone and wood cladding applied inside and out, encouraging movement around and through the site.
A service tower concentrates access routes and technical components to facilitate expansion from two to four storeys as Milton continues to grow.
An extensive use of structural glazing, representing transparency of civil operations, allows natural light to penetrate the interior, particularly into public spaces.
The project has been designed to achieve LEED Silver, said +VG partner Paul Sapounzi, whose firm operates out of offices in Brantford, Cambridge, London and Toronto.
DCN News Services
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