City of Ottawa

Longfields Urban Design Guidelines

October 9, 2009

Paquette Planning Associates Ltd.

56 Hutchison Avenue
Ottawa, Ontario
K1Y 4A3
PH: 613-722-7217
FX: 613-722-0762
paquetteplanning.ca
paquetteplanning@sympatico.ca
 Table of Contents

1. Introduction

2. Developer Responsibilities

2.1 Transit Courtyard

2.2 Longfields Drive
2.3 Longfields Drive Crosswalk
2.4 Mix of Unit Types on Laneway Streets
2.5 Corner Lots on Longfields Drive
2.6 Laneways Treatment
2.7 Parking Restrictions in Lanes
2.8 Driveway Sidewalk Conflict
2.9 Walkways
2.10 Street Furniture
2.11 Park Details
2.12 Community Mailboxes
2.13 Street Lighting

3. Builder Responsibilities

3.1 Overall Architectural Expectation

3.2 Mixed Use Centre
3.3 Mixed Use Blocks
3.4 Building Orientation
3.5 Woodroffe Avenue Block
3.6 Buildings Adjacent to Parks
3.7 Locating Bungalows
3.8 T Intersections
3.9 Building to Street Relationship
3.10 Low Rise Residential Design
3.11 Residential Exterior Side Yard Elevations
3.12 Avoid Garage Dominated Streetscape
3.13 Driveways Dimensions
3.14 Treatment of Laneways
3.15 Laneway Garage Setbacks
3.16 Fencing
3.17 Parking Lot Screening
3.18 Transformers and Utility Boxes
3.19 Utility Projections
3.20 Lighting
3.21 Signage

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1. Introduction

The following document lists a number of urban design and architectural measures to
guide the development of the proposed City of Ottawa Longfields residential community
located in south Nepean. (Figure 1 outlines all the lands that are subject to these
guidelines.) This new infill community is projected to accommodate over 1400
residential units and has been designed to recognise select principles of new-urbanism
and neo-traditionalism as identified from various new residential projects toured and or
researched across Canada and the United States.

Figure 1

Some of the principles of new-urbanism and neo-traditionalism provided for in the

community design include:

- the provision of a high level of public transit service via various bus routes
throughout the community and, as important, the opportunity for many to live
within a short walk of the new Longfields transitway station to open in 2010;
- the provision of sidewalks, at least one per street, to facilitate and encourage
pedestrian activity;
- the ability to accommodate a wide range of housing types which in turn will
create the opportunity to satisfy all types of household requirements from young
families to seniors;
- the ability to work and live in the same community; there will be employment
space to buy /lease in the mixed use centre; in addition homeowners fronting onto
Longfields Drive between Mother Theresa High School and Woodroffe Avenue
will be able to use 50% of their unit for home based business purposes;
- the use of laneways to locate the garage in select portions of the community to
demonstrate the streetscape advantage to such a development form; also, in

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 keeping with this principle, the provision of front loaded units with garages at the
rear of the lots to improve the quality of the streetscape;
- the generous use of covered porches on ground oriented units including singles,
semis and towns; and
- the closer building to street relationships to foster a village feel in the new
community

This document is aimed at providing guidance to the developers and builders of this new
community with respect to the design and architectural expectations of its public and
private realms. These guidelines should be read in conjunction with the following
documents: City of Ottawa Zoning By-law 2008-250, the draft approved plan of
subdivision dated July 16, 2008, revised draft plan as per red line changes dated October
9,2009, the conditions of draft plan approval dated September 11,2008 ( City File D07-
16-17-0014) and the City of Ottawa’s Urban Design Guidelines.

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2. Developer Responsibilities

The following guidelines are primarily intended to be addressed by the project developers
(except where noted). While most recommended design measures are guidelines only
some of the measures are mandatory where noted.

2.1 Transit Courtyard: The transit courtyard, being Block 316 on the draft plan of
subdivision, is to be developed in keeping with the concept plan illustrated in Figures 2A
and the perspective illustrated in Figure 2B which depicts the courtyard looking west
towards the proposed transitway station. The intent of this guideline is to ensure that that
the key elements of this concept including landscaping, bike paths, lighting, stairwells
and overall layout are incorporated in the final design for this important civic space. In
addition, the street furniture to be utilized in the courtyard shall be consistent in look and
character to the street furniture described in this report

Figure 2 A

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 µ

Figure 2 B

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2.2 Longfields Drive: The developer will be responsible for the design and re-
construction of Longfields Drive from Mother Theresa High School to Woodroffe
Avenue in keeping with the drawing illustrated in Figure 3. (Source: Traffic Impact
Study, Longfields Drive Development Sites by Delcan dated April 2007). One of the key
elements to be incorporated in the re-construction of this road segment is the provision of
a lay by parking lane on the south side of this street similar to what has been done in
other portions of Longfields Drive further to the west and south; this lay by parking lane
will benefit the new homeowners fronting onto this street. A more detailed plan,
including landscaping, will be prepared in cooperation with the City prior to construction.

Figure 3

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µ

2.3 Longfields Drive Crosswalk To facilitate safe pedestrian circulation, a paving stone
or concrete crosswalk shall be incorporated into Longfields Drive across from Street 18
of the draft approved plan which is the main street serving the Mixed Use Centre and the
transit station and courtyard. Figure 4, taken from the City of Ottawa’s Urban Design
Guidelines, is an example of such a crosswalk. The landscape plan for this area will
include the detail of this crosswalk.

Figure 4

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2.4 Mix of Unit Types on Laneway Streets: The developer shall encourage the builder
to provide for a mix of singles, semis and towns on laneway streets as illustrated on the
cover of this report, which is a concept plan of some of the streets envisaged for Stage 1
of this new community. Figure 5 is an excerpt from a plan of subdivision of Cornell
Meadows Avenue in Markham, Ontario and it illustrates varying lot sizes in order to
accommodate a mix of unit types.
Figure 5

2.5 Corner Lots on Longfields Drive: To ensure a diverse and interesting looking
streetscape on Longfields Drive between Woodroffe Avenue and Mother Theresa High
School (being the only example of a straight long street in the new community) , T lanes
as illustrated on the cover of this report shall be sought as a means of ensuring the
provision of exterior side yards onto Longfields Drive and to create a more interesting
looking streetscape. As well, the developer in cooperation with the builder, shall ensure
that units on such corner lots will be treated such that the exterior side yard elevation is as
interesting as the front elevation as required per guideline 3.11.

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2.6 Laneways Treatment: The outer 1.5 meter strip in laneways shall be provided with
interlock treatment and mountable concrete curb as per the example illustrated in Figure
6 which was taken from Oakville’s Uptown Core project.

Figure 6

2.7 Parking Restrictions in Lanes: In order to avoid an unsightly and potentially unsafe
circulation environment, a restriction shall be imposed to prohibit parking in the laneway
as illustrated in Figure 7 which was taken from a laneway community in Markham. The
key here will be the enforcement of the parking restriction, which is clearly not occurring
in the example provided in Figure 7.

Figure 7

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2.8 Driveway Sidewalk Conflict: For those portions of the new community that will
accommodate conventional front loaded units ( ie. where the garage is attached to the
front of the house), the developer, in conjunction with the City at the final plan of
subdivision stage, shall direct single car garage dwelling units to the non-sidewalk side
of the street if possible The purpose of this guideline is to avoid parked cars blocking the
sidewalk which can occur more often with single car garage units than with two car
garage units.

2.9 Walkways: The draft approved plan identifies three walkway blocks connecting
Street 24 of the draft plan to the recreational path intended to run parallel and adjacent to
the transitway corridor. The developer shall ensure that the landscape plan incorporates a
black metal chain link fence and evergreen plantings on the abutting residential lots to
effectively screen and separate the private and public reams at such locations. In
addition, a covenant shall be placed on title requiring the homeowner to maintain the
fence and plantings and to prevent any changes to the fence detail abutting the walkway
to ensure that no conflicting materials are introduced..

2.10 Street Furniture: Street furniture and related streetscape amenities shall be of
similar character and style in order to create a consistent looking streetscape. To this end,
all streetscape furniture and elements including street lighting fixtures and poles, tree
guards, bicycle racks, benches, fencing and garbage receptacles shall generally be made
of black metal or complementary colour and material if black metal is not available
Figure 8 is an example of what is desired under this guideline; this picture comes from
the City of Ottawa’s Urban Design Guidelines.

Figure 8.

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2.11 Park Details: The developer shall work with the City’s Park and Recreation
Department to ensure that the public parks are developed with the use of materials
complimentary to the proposed street furniture . Specifically, elements such as park
lighting, fencing, benches and garbage receptacles shall complement the said streetscape
furniture. Figure 9, taken from the City of Ottawa’s Urban Design Guidelines, is an
example of what is desired.

Figure 9

2.12 Community Mailboxes: Community mailboxes shall be located where there are
higher levels of activity such as adjacent to parks, walkways, commercial areas, and bus
stops. The developer, in cooperation with Canada Post, shall explore the opportunity of
providing mailbox pedestals in keeping with the look and character of the street furniture

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2.13 Street Lighting: In keeping with the neo-traditional character of this new
community, the developer is to utilise street lighting fixtures in keeping with this
character. The City of Ottawa has approved light fixture B2a American Revolution
( Source: Right-of-Way Lighting Policy September 29, 2008) as shown in Figure 10
which is well suited for this purpose. In keeping with these fixtures, a black metal pole
should be utilized; if such a pole is not available, however, the Cambridge concrete pole,
also illustrated in Figure 10, is available for use in the City of Ottawa. The exception to
this will be Longfields Drive, Beatrice Drive and Claridge Drive where the continuation
of existing lighting standards will be expected.

Figure 10

Cambridge Concrete Pole

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3. Builder Responsibilities

The following guidelines are primarily intended to be addressed by the project builders
(except where noted). While most recommended design measures are guidelines only,
some of the measures are mandatory where noted.

The intent of this section is to provide general guidance to all builders to collectively
create a community that features a strong and distinguishable residential architectural
character in keeping with the principles of new urbanism and neo-traditionalism as
expressed in section 1 of this report.

3.1 Overall Architectural Expectation The architectural character of this new

community is intended to result in the creation of interesting and vibrant streetscapes
incorporating a variety of styles centred around a neo-traditional theme. To achieve this,
all buildings will be expected to provide varied exterior designs and a wide variety of
materials both in colour and texture.

For low rise buildings, the neo-traditional character will be secured through such
measures as the generous use of covered porches, tighter building to street relationships
than normal, a softened impact of garages on the street, the use of traditional materials
such as brick, stone, stucco and wood on exposed elevations and the use of heritage
lighting fixtures for example. Specifically, the following principles should guide the
design of all singles, semis and towns.

Overall building forms should include:

- strong pronounced main roof forms (gable/hip etc), roof pitches not less than 6/12
- a variety of heights
- a main entrance door that is clearly identifiable and facing the street

Roof design should include:

- deeper soffit overhangs (shadow lines for solar protection) that could be
supported by cornices/brackets
- complimentary additional roof forms such as dormers ,chimneys, roof vents
(louvers) or cupolas
- secondary roof forms created by offsetting exterior walls

Exterior walls facing streets should include:

- abundant use and variety of window sizes with transoms for interior ceiling
heights of 9 feet and over
- combination of brick, stone, acrylic stucco, pre-finished wood siding ,cedar
shingles and, fiber cement board siding or panels
- style of sidings which can be shingle, horizontal ,vertical (board and batten) and
textured panels
- strong accent colours for entrance and garage doors (they do not need to be the
same)
- complimentary use of colour for window frames with predominant material

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 Note: this guideline also applies to exterior side yard elevations on corner lots; see
guideline 3.11for more details on this.

Projections should include:

- ground oriented forms such as porches with railings, bay windows, protruding
wall nibs, canopies etc
- second storey projections such as bay windows and additional roof lines as a
result of offsets from second and ground floors

Covered porches:
- shall be allowed to project in the front and exterior side yards by 2 meters ( as per
bylaw).
- should be provided on all singles, semis and towns
- should have a minimum depth of 1.8 meters clear of posts
- should occupy a minimum of 33% of the street façade of the unit
- should be a maximum of 1.1 m above grade.
- should have columns with a minimum cross sectional dimension of 20 cm.

Garage designs should:

- provide 2 doors where possible ( see guideline 3.12 for more detail)
- include transom windows above doors
- include no more than 2 feet of exterior wall above the garage door.

Base of house should:

- minimize the amount of exposed foundation; if there is more than 16 inches, a
check in the foundation should be provided to lower the exterior material or
provide foundation planting.

House models should:

- be sited to avoid any appearance of obvious repetition on the same street; as a
guide, similar models shall be at least 4 units apart and shall incorporate different
front elevation elements to ensure a varied streetscape

For taller buildings, the desired architectural character will be reflected though the use of
materials that will complement the low rise buildings, the orientation of pleasing facades
to the street, a high level of architectural detail and quality and the siting of parking lots
away from public realm sightlines for example.

Specifically, for building elevations of residential and mixed uses of 3.5 to 8 storeys, the
following architectural criteria should be used:

Ground levels should:

- be distinctly different from the upper floors either in the use of materials or in
form to create a strong visual base to the building.

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 - include projections in the form of canopies, recessed entrances, signage (in the
case of mixed use) to emphasis the ground floor at street level.

Upper levels should:

- provide for offsetting of upper levels from ground level to reduce their scale
- include a variation in fenestration (windows)size and placement to provide visual
interest. Each level does not need to repeat the same window pattern and shape of
window.

Rooflines should:
- include roof forms which can be either sloped or flat assuming that all
mechanical equipment ,when required, will be concealed.
- include strong accents in the use/detailing of materials to be used to "cap" the top
of the building form.
- consist of varying heights.

3.2 Mixed Use Centre: The commercial component to be created as part of the Mixed
Use Centre (as conceptually illustrated in Figure 12) at Longfields Drive and Street No.
18 shall incorporate a landscape feature serving as a focal point (example: a courtyard
with chairs/benches and tables) on the south west corner of this intersection where the
existing easement precludes the construction of buildings. The details of this landscape
feature shall be provided in the required landscape plan for this block.

Figure 12

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3.3 Mixed Use Blocks: The blocks zoned MC represent a chance to create a distinctive
suburban community through the introduction of mixed use ( residential-commercial use)
buildings. The challenge here is to produce interesting architectural forms while creating
functional and accessible space that relates to the street. Figure 13 is but one example of a
positive looking mixed use building taken from downtown Oakville.

Figure 13

3.4 Building Orientation: In conjunction with the City at the site plan stage, the builder
shall ensure that the rear walls of buildings shall not be oriented towards major sightlines
(such as those viewed from Woodroffe Avenue or Longfields Drive for example) unless
deemed to have architectural interest in keeping with these guidelines. An example of
what is not desired is illustrated on Figure 14, which is a stack townhouse project rear
wall visible from a major arterial road.

Figure 14

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3.5 Woodroffe Avenue Block: The multiple residential/institutional block facing
Woodroffe Avenue will be designed to present an architecturally pleasing facade onto
Woodroffe Avenue as well as the internal local road known as Street No. 3 on the draft
plan of subdivision. A pedestrian connection through this block between the adjacent
Michelle Jean elementary school and the Street No. 3 is to be provided.

If this block is developed for institutional uses, the parking lot(s) should be oriented to
allow for the possible sharing of parking with the abutting funeral home to the north and
the Michelle Jean elementary school to the south. Any shared use of parking should be
supported by driving aisle links and walkways as necessary to facilitate such joint use.

3.6 Buildings Adjacent to Parks: In order to better frame the open sided parks in Stages
1 and 2, houses abutting these parks should be a minimum of 2 storeys in height. See
Figure 15 taken from the community of Bois Franc in Ville St. Laurent.

Figure 15

3.7 Locating Bungalows: It is recommended that the introduction of bungalows be done

in groupings to avoid a poor streetscape, which would result if say a single bungalow was
sited among several taller dwellings. An exception to this would be the introduction of a
single bungalow on a corner lot that can work well in such a location provided the
abutting units are designed to ensure a smooth transition in height.

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3.8 T Intersections: Distinctive architecture should be provided at the axis of the
terminated street. Driveways should be located to the outside of the lots to create a
landscaped court in the front yard setback area of the affected house as per example
shown in Figure 16 ( taken from the Town of Markham Generic Architectural Design
Guidelines, 2001).
Figure 16

3.9 Building to Street Relationship: In order to enhance the quality of the streetscapes,
building are intended to be located closer to the street edge than is often permitted in
other residential communities. To reinforce this objective, the maximum distance from
the main wall of a building to the street property line shall not exceed the bylaw setback
requirement by more than 1.2 meters.

3.11 Residential Exterior Side Yard Elevations: All exterior side yard elevations shall
incorporate an entrance door and architectural detail in keeping with the front elevation.
The designs will provide consistent architectural features using details such as a wrap
around porch , turret or bay window. On laneway units, the main entry of the dwelling
should front onto the flanking street and where this occurs, it is recommended that that
the same condition be applied across the street. See Figure 17 below which is an example
of this principle taken from the Uptown Core project in Oakville.

Figure 17

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3.12 Avoid Garage Dominated Streetscape: Design residential buildings so that
garages do not dominate the front façade. For conventional front loaded units, the garage
shall be either flush with or recessed from the main elevation (i.e. main wall).
Architectural sensitivity to minimise the garage’s impact on the street will be sought. For
two car garage units, garages should be accompanied by two separate doors;
alternatively, one door will be acceptable if recessed from the frame as per example
shown in Figure 18, which was taken from the Fairwinds project in Kanata.

Figure 18

3.13 Driveways Dimensions: For conventional front loaded single car garage units,
garages shall be setback enough to park one car or two cars back to back without the car
extending over the sidewalk or beyond the curb. The key here is to avoid driveway depths
somewhere between one and two car lengths which in turn will encourage a second car to
park without the proper spacing available. To this end, a driveway depth of 7 meters for
one car or 10.5 meters for 2 cars back to back should be sought. Where several units
with one car depth are provided for, street parking should be secured if possible.

No driveway should be no wider than the garage it serves and single car garage
driveways should be paired to maximize the amount of green space between them. Three
car garages are not permitted in this new community.

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In the case of front loaded units with garages located at the rear the property (see Figure
19 taken from the River Oaks project in Oakville), mutual driveways (as recognized in
the zoning bylaw) shall be encouraged in order to reduce the magnitude of paved areas
within the front and side yards of these lots and to minimize the overall driveway area
requiring snow clearing.

Figure 19

3.14 Treatment of Laneways: Secondary dwelling units will be required above laneway
garages on corner lots in order to better frame the streetscape at such locations and in
order to soften the view of laneway garages. For other laneway garages, dormers or other
elements of architectural interest shall be incorporated as per example shown in Figure 6.
Driveways abutting a laneway on a corner lot as per example shown in Figure 20, taken
from the Uptown Core project in Oakville, will not be permitted.

Figure 20

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3.15 Laneway Garage Setbacks: Laneway garages shall generally be built along the 0.6
meter setback line (as identified in the zoning bylaw). In some cases, not to exceed 25%
of lots on any single lane, garages may be setback 5.5 meters from the lane curb to enable
parking in front of the garage provided that all other zoning requirements can be satisfied;
if such deeper garage setbacks are provided, they should be scattered along the lane and
shall not be located on corner lots.

3.16 Fencing: All fencing abutting a street or lane shall be consistent in look and
character to the street furniture to be provided as per guideline 2.10 in this report .The use
of black metal picket fencing and a cedar hedge/evergreen plantings in conjunction with a
covenant restricting the placement of conflicting fencing materials shall be observed for
such situations. Figure 21, being a typical corner lot in the Stonebridge community of
south Nepean, is an example of what is expected in these situations.

Figure 21

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3.17 Parking Lot Screening While parking lots should be directed to rear or side yards
in order to minimise their visibility from the street, any parking lot abutting a street shall
be screened/buffered. Figure 22, taken from the City of Ottawa’s Urban Design
Guidelines, is an example of a desirable screen (being complementary to the required
fencing on corner lots as per guideline 3.16) abutting a parking lot.

Figure 22

3.18 Transformers and Utility Boxes: Subject to approval by the City and utility
agencies, utility boxes and transformers shall be located away from any of the street
intersections, day lighting triangles and parking lot entrances within this community; in
addition the landscaping plan shall recommend landscaping treatment and screening
panels (to be maintained by the home owner) in front and around such utilities similar to
the example illustrated in Figure 11 which was taken from the community of Chapman
Mills in south Nepean. A covenant will be placed on title requiring the property owner to
maintain such landscape treatments and screening panels.

Figure 11

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3.19 Utility Projections: In side yards with limited separation distances, projections shall
only be permitted when conflict with through passage to the rear yard (and vice versa) is
avoided. Figure 23, taken from the City of Ottawa’s Urban Design Guidelines, illustrates
a conflict when air conditioning units are allowed in a small side yard. In addition, where
there is 1.8 meter separation distance or less between units, no fencing will be permitted
in the side yard from the front wall of the closest unit to the street to the rear wall of the
deepest unit in order to facilitate access

Figure 23

House utilities should be screened through design or landscaping. In the example

illustrated in Figure 24, taken from the City of Ottawa’s Urban Design Guidelines, the
utility meter is hidden from the street by locating it under the porch. For taller buildings,
materials complementary to the building should be used to screen rooftop mechanical
equipment.

Figure 24

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3.20 Lighting: The type of light fixture to be utilised on any front or exterior side yard
elevation ( and laneway garages) shall be consistent in style and look to the approved
street light fixtures as per the guideline 2.12 in this report. Lighting should emphasize the
house entry and de-emphasize the garage.

3.21 Signage: Ensure that all permanent signage (envisaged for the home based
businesses along Longfields Drive and the commercial component) are in keeping with
the neo traditional character of the new community. Therefore, notwithstanding the
provisions of City of Ottawa Sign By-law 2005-439, permanent signs for home based
business shall be wall mounted only and no bigger than 2 square feet in area. Permanent
signs allowed on any other building shall be no bigger than 10 square feet and can be free
standing on wall mounted. The look and style of all permanent signs in this new
community shall be in keeping with the guidelines to be provided in the final landscape
plan. No temporary trailer signs will be permitted in this new community. A covenant
shall be placed on title to recognise this guideline.

__________________________________________________________
Sources

Several of the guidelines and photos included in this report originate from the following
sources:

1. Site visits of the following communities: Deerfield in south Ottawa, Chapman Mills in
Nepean, Stonebridge in Nepean, Fairwinds in Kanata, Avalon in Cumberland, Cornell in
Markham, Anus Glen in Markham, Montgomery Village in Oakville, Uptown Core in
Oakville, Bois Franc in Ville St Laurent

2. Deerfield Village, Architectural Design Standards, James Colizza Architect,

December2005 Design Guidelines

3. Markham ‘Generic’ Architectural Design Guidelines, Watchorn Architects, June 2001

4. City of Ottawa Urban Design Guidelines.

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