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The lead architect behind the design for the proposed additions to the historic Château Laurier is defending his work after newly revealed plans drew a barrage of criticism from the public and the city’s mayor.

Much of the criticism was directed at two box-shaped modern additions located on the east and west wings that stand in stark contrast with the character of the Château.

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Peter Clewes, principal of the Toronto-based firm architectsAlliance, said the suggestion that he doesn’t care about the hotel’s heritage value is simply not true.

“We need to build buildings that are of our time but we need to be respectful of what has come before them and so it is really a balance between the two. It’s not appropriate to simply take a national historic site and then add on to it exactly in the architectural ground it was originally conceived in because that just confuses history,” Clewes told the Citizen on Thursday.

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“It’s because I care about our cultural history as conveyed in architecture that I think it’s very important to create these clear distinctions,” Clewes said.

While some of the images appear to show the additions towering over the current hotel structure, Clewes said they are not in fact taller.

Some of the pictures circulated to the media, Clewes said, showed a wide-angle view which tends to distort the physical relationship between objects.

“There is some distortion,” Clewes said. “It does make it look larger than it is.”

A cross-sectional image of the design and an image showing a view of the expanded hotel from the main entrance on Wellington Street shows the additions tucked away slightly below the current building structure.

“When you look at the hotel, it will be very clear to you what is the historical portion of the hotel.”

Clewes, a Canadian design architect with 30 years of practice, is the recipient of two prestigious Governor General medals.

“We take our work seriously and we’re very passionate about what we do,” he said.

“What we’re trying to do is something very reserved and calm and deferential.”