Description of Historic Place
The Patterson Creek Pavilion is located northwest of the crossing of the Queen Elizabeth Driveway at Patterson Creek, an inlet of the Rideau Canal. A dignified and sophisticated design, the Pavilion is a one-storey masonry structure with a medium-pitched hipped roof of Spanish Colonial Revival inspiration. Projecting front and rear bays are also hip-roofed. The designation is confined to the footprint of the building.
Heritage Value
The Patterson Creek Pavilion is a Classified Federal Heritage Building because of its historical associations, and its architectural and environmental values:
Historical value:
The Patterson Creek Pavilion was constructed in 1923 by the Ottawa Improvement Commission and represents the period of consolidation of both the parks movement and the public health movement during the interwar years in Canada. Currently, the building is used as a shelter for skate-changing in winter.
Architectural value:
The Patterson Creek Pavilion is valued for its very good aesthetics and is typical of the domestic architecture movement of the 1920s. The pavilion’s design reflects the then-fashionable period Revival styles, and is notable for its pan tile roof of Spanish Colonial Revival inspiration. The simple yet elegant design complements the understated picturesque vocabulary characteristic of the park. The Pavilion is a utilitarian structure containing washrooms and storage facilities. Very good craftsmanship and a richness of materials are evidenced in the variegated brickwork, the quoins and the roof.
Environmental value:
The Patterson Creek Pavilion maintains an unchanged relationship to its site and reinforces the picturesque character of its park-like setting along Patterson Creek. It is also a familiar local landmark to local residents and park visitors.
Sources: Patterson Creek Pavilion, Ottawa, Ontario, Federal Heritage Buildings Review Office, Report 93-085; Patterson Creek Pavilion, Linden Terrace, Ottawa, Ontario, Heritage Character Statement 93-085.
Character-Defining Elements
The following character-defining elements of the Patterson Creek Pavilion should be respected.
Its very good aesthetics, good functional design and very good quality craftsmanship, for example:
-the simple, low massing of the symmetrical, one-storey structure.;
-the exterior walls of vertically-striated, variegated yellow-orange brick;
-the red clay tile roof, articulated by exposed rafter ends at the eaves, and by the symmetrical brick roof vents mimicking chimneys along the ridge;
-the corners accentuated with large-scaled alternating corner quoins of artificial stone;
-the sills and lintels of artificial stone;
-the wood windows, the interior woodwork and hardware;
-the interior space configuration.
The manner in which the Patterson Creek Pavilion site maintains an unchanged relationship to its site, reinforces the picturesque character of its park-like setting on Patterson Creek, and is a familiar local landmark, as evidenced by:
-its ongoing relationship with the park, Patterson Creek and the Queen Elizabeth Driveway;
-its design and materials, which harmonize with the picturesque surroundings of the park’s landscape;
-its familiarity to park visitors through its visibility from the Queen Elizabeth Driveway and its use as washrooms and skate-change facilities in the wintertime.
