Professional Lighting & Production - Summer 2018 | Page 18

18 PL&P
National Arts Centre
1 Elgin St.
Ottawa, ON K1P 5W1
613-947-7000
www.nac-cna.ca
THE
NATIONAL
ARTS
CENTRE
rejuvenating
a beacon for
canadian arts
& culture
By Andrew King
18|Summer 2018
S
ince officially opening its doors
in 1969, the National Arts
Centre (NAC) has welcomed a
diverse and unparalleled array
of Canadian and international
artists and performers to its
various stages in the National Capital.
The NAC was one of several high-profile
projects launched by the Federal Govern-
ment to commemorate Canada’s centenary
in 1967, and so it’s fitting that, as part of the
Canada 150 celebrations that swept across
the country in 2017, the NAC was amidst a
federally-supported $225-million architec-
tural and production renewal project that is
transforming its architecture with the goal
of creating a more inviting and engaging
space for patrons and the public.
The first of two phases of this significant
overhaul is the recently completed, $110.5
million Architectural Rejuvenation phase,
a collaboration with Toronto’s Diamond
Schmitt Architects that included the
addition of a transparent, fully accessible
lobby and atrium that reorients the facility’s
main entrance to Elgin Street and adds new
spaces for education and performance.
The idea was to make the NAC more
inviting not only to world-class performers
and productions, but especially to the gen-
eral public as a place to create connections
and build community through a variety of
programming and activities.