Shaughnessy House Conservatory
As heritage architects, EVOQ was commissioned to restore the conservatory of the Shaughnessy House, while improving its thermal performance. Built in 1874-75, this bourgeois semi-detached house is in the Square Mile, a residential district once known for its opulent residences surrounded by magnificent gardens. Today, it is part of the Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA) complex. The semi-circular conservatory is one of the masterpieces of this former residence. It is a remarkable cast-iron structure with curved glazed walls and a geometric roof. Although a major restoration campaign was undertaken in 1989, the glazing had reached the end of its useful life and much of the decorative cast iron structure was deteriorated.
Given the highly specialized nature of the conservatory and its curved structure that has warped over time, no off-the-shelf conservation solution was available. All interventions had to be carefully considered custom responses to the as-found conditions. EVOQ developed and leveraged a heritage BIM (H-BIM) model to simplify the process of design iterations and used it in conjunction with other software to simulate heat-transfer effects.
To improve the conservatory’s energy efficiency, it was essential to rethink the installation details surrounding its original cast-iron structure, which possesses both the greatest heritage value and contributes to the structure’s deterioration through thermal bridging and condensation. In collaboration with building envelope specialists (UL Solutions), EVOQ performed thermal design iterations to test and validate critical design details while preserving the conservatory’s architectural qualities.
