May 29, 2026

The design for Gladstone Village Phase 1 is featured in an article by Jay Fox for Passive House Accelerator.

North America's housing shortage extends beyond affordability to include a lack of accessible options for people with mobility impairments and larger families—and new developments are frequently built far from urban centres, feeling isolated rather than connected to a community's civic and social infrastructure. 

Designed for Ottawa Community Housing (OCH) by Diamond Schmitt, in collaboration with KWC Architects, and building envelope and Passive House consultant RDH Building Science, Gladstone Village is a multi-phase project under construction in Ottawa's Little Italy neighbourhood, demonstrating that affordable housing can address these challenges, and at scale.

Meeting stringent Passive House parameters is vital to the project's goals, but the team has contextualized building performance as more than efficiency or resiliency. It fits within a larger effort to build housing that responds to quality-of-life issues for residents priced out of the market. As Diamond Schmitt Senior Associate Arne Suraga explains, the goal is to create affordable units that are also resilient, comfortable, and designed to foster a shared sense of space and community.

Gladstone Village Phase 1 also addresses a critical gap in the market: family-sized housing. Of the 336 units, 182 are one-bedrooms and 59 are studios, but the project also includes 57 two-bedroom units, 35 three-bedroom units, and three four-bedroom apartments. Twenty percent of units across every size category meet accessibility standards exceeding the Ontario Building Code, meaning a multigenerational family in a four-bedroom apartment can have a fully accessible washroom and barrier-free circulation throughout. Rejecting the typical austerity of public housing, the project integrates generous communal "third spaces" to enrich daily life: a ground-floor lobby lounge, bookable study rooms, a courtyard designed for accessible transit vehicles, a daylit fitness space and multipurpose event room, and more—the kinds of spaces especially rare for people who cannot afford market rent. The development is also connected to Ottawa's expanding transit network, from LRT and highways to cycling paths and future active transit corridors.

The architectural envelope balances energy efficiency, aesthetic design, and Ontario's high-rise construction regulations through smart material and design choices. A strict 30% window-to-wall ratio with triple-glazed fiberglass windows maximizes glass size while minimizing thermal loss, complemented by a U-shaped layout for natural shading, an underground parking buffer, and high-performance continuous insulation — all working together to meet Passive House standards economically. Rooftop solar arrays, integrated with community spaces will complete the building's green energy strategy. This robust envelope and high-performance windows also provide critical climate resilience against Ottawa's severe ice storms. In a prolonged winter power outage, the passive design can maintain safe, comfortable indoor temperatures for days without active heating. For added protection, the multipurpose room and smaller amenity spaces are equipped with emergency power and backup heat—offering a warm refuge for vulnerable residents and a place to charge devices and stay connected.

To learn more about the technical and design story behind Gladstone Village, read the full article on Passive House Accelerator.