By Trevor Greenway
Local Journalism Initiative
La Pêche officially unveiled its new $11.5 million town hall on Nov. 18, showing off the swanky new digs that will house employees, politicians and space for public council meetings and consultations.
Flanked by politicians – MP Sophie Chatel, Minister of Culture and Communications Mathieu Lacombe and the elusive Pontiac MNA Robert Bussière – La Pêche Mayor Guillaume Lamoureux gave members of the media and other dignitaries a tour of the new space. He was visibly proud to announce that the new building is the first-ever Passivhaus institutional building in Quebec.
“To see how it impacts people’s everyday life – people who’ve been working here for 30 years – to finally be in a new building that’s inspiring and that’s been designed for their work as opposed to converted from a rectory,” said Lamoureux. “This will be a lasting symbol in La Pêche.”Indeed, at $11.5 million the new town hall is La Pêche’s most valuable asset, and it certainly looks it. The impressive 1,426-square-metre building, just off Hwy 366 in Masham, overlooks the iconic, red Masham bridge that spans the La Pêche River in Gatineau Park.
The interior is bright, spacious and open, with glass walls defining the various spaces and offices throughout. Lamoureux joked that his office is “the aquarium,” a large, central, transparent office overlooking the rolling hills of Gatineau Park.
A giant spiral staircase is the centrepiece of the building’s main floor. Residents will notice first the multiple peaks that frame the new building against the Masham skyline – 18-metre, cross-laminated, timber panels positioned against one another at a 40-degree angle. According to architect Dominique Laroche, this construction will allow snow build-up to act as extra insulation, which he likened to “reinforced concrete.”
Laroche told the Low Down that energy from the sun will be the building’s main heating source.
“Most of the windows are oriented south, so you get the light but also the heat from the sun,” explained Laroche.
Part of what makes the building so energy efficient is because it’s what Laroche calls, “carbon sync.” That means that, because it’s made entirely of wood, it doesn’t technically have a carbon footprint. Carbon storage is the concept of using wood materials in buildings to “store” carbon in homes rather than releasing it into the atmosphere. The heavy doors and windows were imported from Germany and are triple-paned, high-quality glass. They’re so heavy that it’s a test of strength to open them.
The exterior is wrapped in an impressive 12-panel, porcelain mosaic art piece by Lisa Creskey, which she said took “a million hours” to create, including 80 kiln hours. The larger-than-life piece depicts the flora and fauna of the Outaouais region and, fittingly, a large fish on the east side of the building.
According to Lamoureux, more than half of the $11.5 million price tag for the building is being covered in provincial and federal grants. The municipality is taking a 20-year loan to pay off the building through the Federation of Canadian Municipalities.