The Connaught Building is a historic building in the downtown Ottawa region. Overlooking both the Byward market and Major's Hill Park, this building has been a recognizable part of Ottawa's architecture since 1913 when it was built.

Originally being used by Customs Canada as a Customs examining warehouse, it traded hands and became the headquarters for the Canada Revenue Agency. Offices take up the majority of the building's square footage. The building is made up of 9 floors and 2 basement levels with a prominent lower roof.

Public Works and Government Services Canada was eager to approach Sensequake to have this building evaluated as it is a certified Natural Historic Site of Canada. While most of the building has stayed the same over its history, major renovations were made to construct two additional floors. These renovations may have been done with different types of construction, which can play a role in the integrity of the structure as a whole. For this reason, further investigation was conducted to find out. Public Works asked us to:
 

• Perform ambient vibration tests on the building

• Find the modal properties of the structure using our 3D-SAM    technology

• Perform seismic assessment using time history analysis

• Predict structural and non-structural seismic performance levels of the building

• Build a report that other firms can use to calibrate their existing finite element models to help them design ​an accurate retrofit scheme

Sensequake is proud to have collaborated with Public Works in the evaluation of this historic architectural gem.