Description of Historic Place

The Asticou Centre consists of a twenty-six unit complex of buildings arranged in a roughly rectangular grid and linked by a network of corridors to form an interconnected, campus type layout. The Asticou Centre was built in three stages beginning with the academic section (Blocks 100-1100), the common services facilities (Blocks 1200-1900) and the vocational section (Blocks 2000-2700). Blocks 100 to 1100 consist of eleven mainly low lying, one-storey, mottled, dark red brick buildings, and feature extensive fenestration and flat black metal roofs supported on exposed beams. Blocks 300, 500 and 900 have distinctive cedar-clad truncated pyramidal roofs and Block 1100 has a heavy, truncated, shingle-clad roof with corner cuts over just one bay. Tucked into a rolling, park-like landscape, the Asticou Centre is located in an enclave of educational buildings and sits within the Gatineau Park. Blocks 100-1100 are grouped together at the western side of the site. The designation is confined to the footprint of the building.

Heritage Value

Blocks 100-1100 together constitute a Recognized Federal Heritage Building because of their historical associations, and their architectural and environmental values.

Historical value
Through its initial use as a vocational and academic Québec secondary school, the Asticou Centre is a convenient example of fundamental changes to Québec secondary education, stemming from major legislation passed in 1961. The Centre’s early and current use as a federal government language training facility also makes it a useful illustration of federal government expansion in the 1960s and of the need for government training facilities following the passage of the Official Languages Act, which made bilingualism a requirement for federal public servants beginning in the 1970s. As the first secondary school in Hull, now part of the amalgamated City of Gatineau, the Asticou Centre was built to serve a large region of potential students and is a very good illustration of the community’s suburban expansion.

Architectural value
Blocks 100-1100 form the first phase of construction at the Asticou Centre and are a very good example of the blending of several architectural styles and trends popular in Canadian architecture during the 1960s, in particular, the International Style. Visually cohesive and uniform, Blocks 100-1100 are characterized by a low profile, a strong horizontal emphasis balanced by vertical elements, and the repetitive use of a limited combination of materials. The Asticou Centre was designed to reflect new philosophies in Québec education including the creation of schools designed to promote teaching productivity, encourage teamwork and stimulate individual learning. Blocks 100-1100 clearly express this ambitious and complex pedagogical program through the human scale of the architecture, the harmony of the design with the surrounding natural environment, the good functional quality of the blocks which are arranged into clear functional groupings, and the careful choice and combination of good quality materials used to create a sense of warmth, scale and harmony. The Prairie Style, organic American architecture, West coast architecture and a modern rustic vernacular found throughout Québec, influenced these aspects of the design.

Environmental value
A low lying complex of buildings tucked into a rolling park-like landscape, the Asticou Centre reinforces the present character of the area, which is composed of a band of institutional buildings situated between a suburban neighbourhood and a large natural park within the National Capital Region. Blocks 100-1100 are grouped together at the western side of the site and are surrounded by large, open, landscaped lawns and mature trees. The Asticou Centre is recognized throughout the National Capital Region as a federal language training facility due to the large number of federal public servants and residents who have frequented the establishment.

Sources: Kate MacFarlane, Centre Asticou, 241 Cité des jeunes, Gatineau, Québec, Federal Heritage Building Report 04-061; Blocks 100-1100, Centre Asticou, 241 Cité des jeunes, Gatineau, Québec, Heritage Character Statement, 04-061.

Character-Defining Elements

The character-defining elements of Blocks 100-1100 should be respected.

The manner in which its design illustrates the historical theme of fundamental changes to Québec secondary education including the creation of schools designed to promote teaching productivity, encourage teamwork and stimulate individual learning as expressed in:
- the human scale of the architecture;
- the arrangement of the complex into clear functional groupings and their interior layouts;
- the harmonious interaction between the building and the natural, park-like surroundings;
- the blending of several styles popular in Canadian architecture in the 1960s.

Its very good aesthetic design, which blends together elements from the Modern International Style, as well as the Prairie Style, organic American architecture, West Coast architecture and a modern rustic vernacular found throughout Québec, its good functional quality and its good quality materials and craftsmanship as manifested in the:
- low, sprawling massing;
- strong horizontality created by the low elevations, flat rooflines and the linear pattern of the windows and brickwork, which is balanced by vertical elements such as the corner entrances and the division of the exterior brick panels;
- regular rhythm of the façades established by the pattern of brick panels and the large windows, most of which have buff-coloured spandrel panels below them;
- lightness of the composition achieved by the large picture windows and the black metal roofs supported on exposed beams floating above a narrow band of clerestory fenestration;
- distinctive hat-like roofs of Blocks 300, 500 and 900, comprised of a truncated pyramidal base over a band of clerestory windows, and supporting a smaller truncated pyramid;
- heavy, truncated, shingle-clad roof with corner cuts over just one bay of Block 1100;
- arrangement of the complex of buildings into clear functional groupings where Blocks 100-1100 constitute the academic section;
- interior layout, which allows for a variety of educational experiences, including group classrooms, meeting rooms and individual study areas;
- open and fluid design of the interior spaces;
- extensive fenestration, such as the picture windows looking out to the grounds or the inner courtyards, which provide glimpses to the exterior’s natural environment;
- high, pyramidal, wood-panelled ceilings and soaring, open interior spaces in Blocks 300, 500 and 900;
- wide, well-lit corridors;
- visually cohesive relationship between the buildings due to their consistent choice of warm, natural materials and detailing such as cedar shingles and mottled, dark red brick;
- external and internal expression of the wood post and beam construction including the exposed cross beams under the rooflines of some of the buildings;
- connection details between elements of different materials, in particular the expressed steel angles and brackets connecting elements of the wood structure.

The manner in which the building reinforces the character of the area, composed of a band of institutional buildings situated between a suburban neighbourhood and a large natural park, as well as its symbolic landmark value as evidenced in:
- its visual harmony with the surrounding natural environment owing to its scale, low horizontal massing and choice of materials;
- its location and role as a buffer zone at the edge of Gatineau Park; and,
- its identity and familiarity to federal public servants and residents as a federal language training facility.