Performance Court is an office development located at the intersection of Elgin and Gloucester Streets in downtown Ottawa. Occupants of the building can expect to enjoy the amenities of a 23-storey office tower with over 46,500 square metres of space, plus three levels of underground parking with room for over 200 vehicles. There is a large events area in the main lobby, which features an interactive video wall, a backlit Onyx wall, and an interior wall clad in wood reclaimed from the Ottawa River.

The public terrace on the seventh floor features trees and plants in a park-like setting, with a view of downtown Ottawa and the Rideau Canal.

The Grant House, a home built in 1875, has been restored and physically incorporated as a heritage component into the atrium of the development. Sustainable components and initiatives as part of the design and operation of 150 Elgin Street aim at achieving a certification level of at least LEED Gold.

Precast features
While much of the structure is cast-in-place concrete, some of the most significant advances and benefits achieved on the build came from the innovative use of precast concrete. In fact, the building’s elegant exterior owes its modern esthetics to the combination of curtain wall and precast concrete that makes its way up the façade. Béton Préfabriqué du Lac (BPDL) were awarded the contract for the precast concrete and produced 1,317 precast concrete pieces including 1,015 GFRC components. Designers used the Tekla software to design the precast concrete components building.

PCL’s precast solution
In order to meet an aggressive schedule, the project team used precast, glass fibre reinforced panel technology. The vertical cladding means a reduction in the number of vapour barrier joints, resulting in a significantly faster build. It also reduces the number of possible failure points in the vapour barrier, helping to ensure quality over the building’s lifespan.