PORTFOLIO

About

Western Ottawa Community Resource Centre (WOCRC, formerly the Goulbourn Kanata and West Carleton Community Resource Centre) developed a three storey purpose-built shared office building to house its own operations as well as a satellite site for the Ottawa Children’s Treatment Centre (OCTC). The facility provides counselling, information and referral services, violence against women services, and various programs for youth, children, seniors and families. The building is also home to the Ontario Early Years Centre and OCTC’s specialized care for children with multiple physical, developmental, and associated behavioural needs.

The design balances open access for the community with efficiency for operations and security for staff. A large central stairway encourages staff and clients to use the facility more actively.

The building was originally designed to accommodate a fourth floor which was eventually added through an expansion project ten years later. The building’s seismic protection was also upgraded at that time. Staged construction allowed WOCRC and OCTC to continue operations while the addition was built.

In addition to functional programming and project management services, Jackson-Brown Associates developed a funding proposal for WOCRC that resulted in a $3.6 million capital grant from the federal-provincial Infrastructure Stimulus Fund.