page_title: National Arts Centre
section_title: Architecture
hierarchical_section_title: National Arts Centre / Architecture
caption_attribution_description: National Arts Center spiral crystal DNA sculpture in spiral stairwell. This photo was used in &quot;Eye on DNA&quot; - Forbes DNA Special Feature.
context_page_description: The National Arts Centre is a Canadian centre for the performing arts located in Ottawa, Ontario, along the Rideau Canal. The National Arts Centre was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 2006.
context_section_description: The building, designed by Fred Lebensold, is in the Brutalist style and is based on the shape of a triangle and hexagon. The building is constructed of reinforced concrete. The exterior and many interior walls are faced with precast concrete panels containing exposed aggregate of crushed brown Laurentian granite. The centre rises from a base that sits on a 950-space underground parking garage. The base houses offices, lobbies, dressing rooms, workshops and a restaurant. The site slopes from Elgin Street to the Rideau Canal allowing for a second underground level overlooking the canal. The roof of the base forms a multi-level terrace containing gardens that are open to the public and connects to the Mackenzie King Bridge. The three main performance spaces rise from the base as a series of hexagonal structures also faced with brown precast panels in a variety of textures. Windows are tall, narrow slits framed by vertical ribs. The hexagonal theme flows through the interior and appears in ceilings, light fixtures and flooring. Lobbies and stairwells house several major pieces of visual art.
  Plans for the centre included an organ in Southam Hall; however, funding did not permit this. On 17 March 1970, the 25th anniversary of the liberation of the Netherlands, a Dutch-Canadian Committee presented two organs purchased as the result of its Operation Thankyou Canada. The 21-stop concert organ and positiv organ were both constructed by the Flentrop Orgelbouw of Zaandam and given in gratitude for the role played by Canadian troops in the liberation of the Netherlands. The concert organ premiered in a recital 7 October 1973 by Albert de Klerk.
  In 2000, the NAC was named by the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada as one of the top 500 buildings produced in Canada during the last millennium.
  In 2014, Heritage Minister Shelly Glover and Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird announced a $110 million facelift of the NAC. At construction, the centre was oriented toward a planned lagoon on the east, which was never constructed. The work would expand meeting and event facilities, install entrances and windows to reorient the focus toward Parliament Hill, and upgrade washroom facilities. The renovated centre opened 1 July 2017 for Canada's 150th Anniversary.
caption: Interior view of National Arts Centre in Ottawa, Ontario showing suspended glass sculpture Crystal DNA
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