Tunney's Pasture


Tunney's Pasture is a campus in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada that is exclusively developed for federal government buildings. It is bordered by Scott Street to the south, Parkdale Avenue to the east, the Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway to the north, and Northwestern Avenue to the west. While strictly speaking it is confined to this area, people living in the vicinity of it will often call the wider neighbourhood Tunney's Pasture.
The complex is served by Tunney's Pasture station, a stop on the Transitway bus rapid transit system and the western terminus on the Confederation Line of Ottawa's O-Train light rail system.

History

Before development in the early 1950s, this area was officially known as Lot 35, Concession A, Township of Nepean, and, as the name still indicates, it was used as a farmer's pasture and named after Anthony Tunney who pastured his cows on the empty land.
As a young man, Anthony Tunney emigrated from Ireland to Ottawa in 1867 and married and built a house at 201 Parkdale Avenue. The owner of the pasture, the Ottawa Lumber Merchants' Association, hired Tunney to be the caretaker of the land and allowed him to graze his cattle in the field. Although Tunney was able to claim ownership because he had been paying the taxes on the property, he never did so and the land was eventually sold by the association to the government.
In 1950, the property became part of the Greber Plan that envisioned it as a government employment centre within a quiet and secure park-like campus. From the 1950s to the 1960s, 18 low-rise buildings were constructed with modern, classical-inspired architecture and similar materials, massing, and scale. Most of these combined research and office functionality under one roof. Starting in the 1970s however, new buildings and additions were built that deviated from Gréber's vision, introducing high-rise office towers, new architectural styles, and cladding materials to the site.
Little development took place in the 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s. By 2011, most buildings were considered outdated and the site under-used. So Public Works and Government Services Canada has initiated a plan to redevelop the campus with new high-rise buildings and mixed-use commercial and residential space over a 25-year period. In all, the plan aims to double the number of federal employees to 20,000 and add between 800 and 1000 residential units.

List of buildings

Various ministries and agencies occupy offices, in whole or in part, in Tunney's Pasture.
ImageNameAddressYear builtYear demolishedPrimary tenantFloor area
R. H. Coats Building
1974
n/a
Statistics Canada
40,829
Main Building
1952
n/a
Statistics Canada
39,237
Jean Talon Building
1979
n/a
Statistics Canada
60,906
Brooke Claxton Building
1964
n/a
Health Canada
20,972
Jeanne Mance Building
1970
n/a
Health Canada
32,755
Laboratory Centre for Disease Control
1954
n/a
Health Canada
11,247
Health Protection Building
1956
n/a
Health Canada
10,317
Environmental Health Building
1965
n/a
Health Canada
7,008
Animal Breeding Building
1962
2018
Health Canada
3,073
Sir Frederick G Banting Research Centre
1978
n/a
Health Canada
34,028
Finance Building
1952
n/a
Health Canada
7,203
Occupational Health Unit Building
1956
n/a
Health Canada
1,965
Virus LaboratoryColumbine Driveway
1954
2002-2005
Health Canada
General Records Centre
1957
2018
Library and Archives Canada
17,044
Personnel Records Centre
1965
n/a
Library and Archives Canada
19,498
Standards Building
1954
n/a
Measurement Canada
4,463
National Defence Data Centre
1962
n/a
Department of National Defence
16,602
Finance Annex
1958
n/a
Geological Survey of Canada
6,481
Central Heating and Cooling Plant
1952
n/a
1,719
Butler Hut
1955
n/a
303
Atomic Energy of Canada Building
1955
1999-2002
Atomic Energy of Canada Limited
Eldorado Nuclear Building
unknown
1990s