Central Chambers, Ottawa, Ontario

Built in 1890-91, Central Chambers is a showpiece of Queen Anne Revival commercial design and a well-known Ottawa landmark. It was designed by Ottawa architect J.J. Browne for Edward Seybold and James Gibson, partners in the dry goods firm of Seybold and Gibson. In 1900, it was sold to the Central Chambers Company. Located at the corner of Elgin and Queen Streets, it is one of the key buildings framing Confederation Square, the site of the National War Memorial and the capital’s second most important ceremonial centre after Parliament Hill.

Central Chambers was designated a national historic site of Canada in 1990 because it is a striking example of the Queen Anne Revival Style, as expressed in commercial architecture. Popular between the 1870s and the outbreak of the First World War, the Queen Anne Revival style drew its inspiration from different eras and styles. Examples were characterised by asymmetrical facades, steeply-pitched and irregular rooflines, front-facing gables, overhanging eaves, circular or square towers with turrets in corners, unusual windows, wraparound verandahs, highly ornamented spindles, fish scale siding, detailed textures, and bright colours.

At the time of its construction, the Central Chambers was described as “one of the biggest [commercial structures] that has ever been undertaken” and “one of the handsomest in the city”. This attractive six-storey building was designed to provide upscale commercial premises on the ground floor and combined commercial and office premises above. Abundant daylight floods the interior through multiple bay windows and the massive, round-arched ground floor windows which also maximized commercial display space. Rich texture and colouration is provided by red brick, and terra cotta panels with white trim and metal. Together these features make this building a fine illustration of the Queen Anne Revival Style.

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