Description of Historic Place

Hangar 11 is a balanced and symmetrical building composed of an arched, long span hangar space, flanking lateral offices tucked into the sides of the arch and a central entrance, all bracketed by two large masonry pocket door towers. Hangar 11 is a large, prominent building located on the edge of a flying field at the former CFB Ottawa-Uplands and the current Ottawa International Airport. The designation is confined to the footprint of the building.

Heritage Value

Hangar 11 is a Recognized Federal Heritage Building because of its historical associations, and its architectural and environmental values:

Historical value:
Hangar 11 is associated with the national historic theme of the post-World War II build-up of Canada's Armed Forces in order to meet its commitments to international military preparedness under the Charter of the United Nations and the NORAD agreements, as well as the deployment of personnel to international destinations for overseas operations. Purpose-built to house the Avro CF-100 Canuck during the 1950s expansion of the military base, Hangar 11 served as an Air Movement Unit for senior government officials, VIPs, and military staff and their families and was necessary to support the mission of international military preparedness. Hangar 11 was rehabilitated in 1981 and 1994 to serve as the Canada Reception Centre, the point of arrival and departure of visiting foreign dignitaries, as well as being the site of official ceremonies and speeches.

Architectural value:
Hangar 11 is a good example of a -Standard Design- 160' span structural steel hangar designed in the modern industrial aesthetic, to house flight squadrons. A simple and elegant engineering solution, the arch was designed to handle snow loading and lateral forces created by wind in severe climatic conditions, and to create a large, extremely flexible work environment that was ideally suited for the functional requirements of a 1950s Cold War Hangar. Hangar 11 also demonstrates a competent level of craftsmanship and good quality materials.

Environmental value:
Hangar 11 reinforces the industrial character of its setting at the former CFB Ottawa-Uplands and the current international airport. A large, prominent building on the edge of a flying field, the character of the site has been retained despite modifications to the building's footprint and principle pedestrian access. Hangar 11 is well known to military personnel and to the larger community of people who use it for special events, and has symbolic landmark value due to its current use as the Canada Reception Centre.

Sources:
Edgar Tumak, Aircraft Hangars 11 and 14, Former CFB Ottawa-Uplands, Ottawa, Ontario. Federal Heritage Buildings Review Office Report 96-053 (Supplementary).

Hangar 11, Former CFB Ottawa-Uplands, Ottawa, Ontario. Heritage Character Statement 96-053.

Character-Defining Elements

The following character-defining elements of Hangar 11 should be respected, for example:

Its role as an illustration of the post-World War II build-up of Canada's Armed Forces to meet its commitments to international military preparedness (UN and NORAD) and the deployment of personnel to international destinations for overseas operations is reflected in:

-the -Standard Design- 160' clear span, three-hinged arch which is a simple and elegant engineering solution that successfully accommodates the functional requirements of a hangar by creating a large interior space suitable for housing and servicing aircraft.

Its modern industrial aesthetic, its functionally progressive design and its competent craftsmanship and good quality materials as manifested in:

-the simplicity and clarity of its unadorned, functionally expressive and integrated composition of geometric forms including the pure form of the arch over the principal space, the massive rectangular pocket door towers that house the large, horizontal sliding doors, the two-storey flat-roofed office wings that flank the arch, and the long, lateral ribbon windows of the office spaces;
-the honest expression of the long span, three-hinged segmented steel truss arches which frame the roof and whose girders spring directly from the abutments, creating a large, austere, column-free and extremely flexible interior space suitable for storage and maintenance of aircraft;
-the use of trafford tile on the exterior of the building which is very durable and distinctively Canadian material.

The manner in which the building reinforces the character of its setting and has visual and symbolic landmark value are evident in:

-the location of this large, prominent building on the edge of the flying field which has maintained its direct relationship with the adjacent runways to the south, the access lanes to the north, and the aprons to the east and west;
-its compatibility with the adjacent group of industrial buildings, set in a large, open space which are readily identifiable as part of an airport.