GBA Group

Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre

Development and Project Manager

Ottawa, ON, Canada

1999 to 2009

400,000 sq. ft

$150M Budget

As development and project manager, GBA led the redevelopment of the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre (The Royal) and The Royal’s Institute of Mental Health Research, Canada’s first academic teaching hospital, research centre, and long-term care facility to be built as a public-private partnership.

GBA managed all aspects of the project, including the master planning, functional programming, business case, design, build, finance, operation and maintenance of the new facility. Now known as The Royal, the hospital and research institute were completed and delivered in a record six-weeks ahead of schedule and on budget. 

GBA’s award winning communications and IT strategy ensured the facility went through a complete branding transformation. This allowed the aging psychiatric hospital to turn into a progressive teaching and research centre with state-of-the-art care for people suffering from mental illnesses, with its fundraising increased substantially. 

The Royal also includes a 96-bed specialized long-term care facility which was created concurrently as a distinct and separate capital project.  This new facility, the first of its kind in Ontario, provides innovative, long-term mental health and behavioural support 24/7 for individuals in need of a home environment.