Shaw Centre (Ottawa) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Shaw CentreCentre Shaw (French) |
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Exterior view of the centre (c.)
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| Address | 55 Colonel By Drive Ottawa, Ontario K1N 9J2 |
| Coordinates | 45°25′27″N 75°41′30″W / 45.4242°N 75.6916°W |
| Owner | Government of Ontario |
| Opened | 11 April 2011 |
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Construction cost
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CA$170 million ($211 million in 2021 dollars ) |
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Former names
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Ottawa Congress Centre (1983-2008) Ottawa Convention Centre (2011-14) |
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Classroom-style seating
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22 (Jim Durrell Boardroom) |
| Banquet/ballroom | 1,050 (Trillium Ballroom) |
| Enclosed space | |
| • Total space | 365,973 sq ft (34,000.0 m2) |
| • Exhibit hall floor | 57,740 sq ft (5,364 m2) |
| • Breakout/meeting | 44,854 sq ft (4,167.1 m2) |
| • Ballroom | 19,032 sq ft (1,768.1 m2) |
| Parking | 730 spaces |
The Shaw Centre is a large building in downtown Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It's a place where big meetings, shows, and events happen. It opened its doors in April 2011.
Before it was called the Shaw Centre, it was known as the Ottawa Convention Centre. Even before that, it was the Ottawa Congress Centre, which opened in 1983. The old Congress Centre building was taken down in 2008-2009 to make way for the new one. In 2014, the centre got its current name after a company called Shaw Communications made a deal to have their name on the building for ten years. The building is owned by the Ontario government.
Contents
Exploring the Shaw Centre: Floor Plans
The Shaw Centre has four main levels, and each one offers cool views of the Rideau Canal and the city.
Level One: The Welcoming Hub
The first floor has a big lobby where people enter. You can see a special art piece called the "Wall of Three Rivers." It's made from old logs and celebrates Ottawa's history. This level also has eight meeting rooms, a special boardroom, and a place to store coats. You can even get to the parking lots directly from here.
Level Two: Meeting and Connecting Space
On the second floor, you'll find 15 more meeting rooms. There's a large open area for people to gather before events. This floor also has an office for event organizers and a business centre. Plus, there are special bridges that connect the Shaw Centre to the Westin hotel and the Rideau Centre shopping mall.
Level Three: The Big Event Hall
The third level is a huge hall that can be used for many different things. It's big enough for over 6,200 people to sit and watch a show. It can also host banquets for 4,600 people or display up to 400 booths for trade shows.
Level Four: Elegant Ballroom Space
The fourth level is home to a beautiful ballroom. This space is often used for important meetings, large conferences, or even weddings.
Awards and Green Building Certifications
The Shaw Centre was designed to be very kind to the environment. It has won several awards for its green features and quality.
LEED Gold Certification: A Green Building Award
In January 2013, the Shaw Centre earned a special award called LEED Gold certification. LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. It's a system that rates how environmentally friendly a building is. Buildings get points for being green, and then they are ranked as Certified, Silver, Gold, or Platinum. Platinum is the highest award.
The Shaw Centre earned its Gold rating by doing many things right:
- It saves a lot of water – about 969,000 gallons each year! It does this by collecting rainwater from the roof in a big tank underground. This water is then used to flush the toilets.
- When the old Congress Centre building was taken down, 97% of its materials were recycled instead of being sent to a landfill.
- The new building used recycled steel for its roof.
- The "Wall of Three Rivers" artwork uses logs found at the bottom of the Ottawa River.
- The building has lots of glass, which lets in natural sunlight. This helps save energy because fewer lights are needed during the day.
AIPC Quality Standards: Top Convention Centre
In May 2013, the Shaw Centre also received the AIPC Quality Standards Gold Certification. AIPC is a group for international convention centres. This award means the Shaw Centre meets very high standards for how it operates. It joined a small group of only 20 convention centres around the world with this top certification.
World's Best Convention Centre Award
In July 2014, the Shaw Centre was recognized as one of the "World’s Best Convention Centre." It tied for second place in an award given by the International Association of Congress Centres (AIPC). The Shaw Centre was one of 27 finalists from around the globe.
Building the Shaw Centre
Building the Shaw Centre cost about $170 million. It's a four-level building with a total space of about 192,000 square feet. The money for the project came from different levels of government. The Canadian government gave $50 million, the Ontario government gave $50 million, and the City of Ottawa gave $40 million. The centre itself borrowed the remaining $30 million.
The new building has a striking glass front facing Colonel By Drive. From the outside, you can clearly see the main entrance and the escalators inside. Even though it has four main convention levels, the building is actually seven stories tall. The name was changed from "Congress Centre" to "Convention Centre" because the word "congress" was sometimes confusing for event planners from other countries, especially the United States.
The Original Congress Centre
The building that stood before the Shaw Centre was called the Congress Centre. It was designed in 1982 and had about 70,000 square feet of space for exhibitions. This old building was built on land that used to be part of the railway system, after the main Ottawa train station moved to a new location outside of downtown. The original Congress Centre was officially opened by the Prime Minister at the time, Pierre Trudeau. It was used for many things, including conventions, public shows, and music concerts, and could hold thousands of people.
