Wellington Building unveiled after painstaking restoration

Take a photographic tour of Ottawa's Wellington Building, officially reopened Thursday after a years-long, multi-million-dollar renovation to serve as administrative offices of the House of Commons.

The massive rehabilitation project included the restoration of doors, windows, masonry and the building's copper roof. Inside, mechanical and electrical systems were replaced and interior details were painstakingly restored, including a dramatic ceiling mosaic inside the main entrance.

The mosaic, created by American muralist Barry Faulkner in 1927,features thousands of coloured glass tiles, and was considered one of the finest designs of its era. In keeping with the building's original purpose head office of insurance company Metropolitan Life, which occupied the building from 1927 to 1976 the mosaic's main themes are health, well-being and prosperity.