Carney announces contest to revamp uninhabitable Canadian PM residence

10 Downing Street has two things: mice and a chief mouser . For more than a decade, an officially recognized feline has kept the residence’s rodent infestation to a minimum. Over a similar period, the official residence of Canada’s prime minister has seen an unchecked explosion of rodents. Nests and vast quantities of feces were found throughout 24 Sussex, the 35-room mansion overlooking Ottawa. They took over the attic, basement and crawl spaces. Decomposing carcasses filled the walls of the decrepit building . Now, prime minister Mark Carney has announced a competition for the country’s leading architecture firms to revive the storied building “to a standard worthy of the country that it serves”. The Royal Architectural Institute of Canada will design the framework and bring together an independent jury of experts in architecture, heritage conservation and design, which will recommend the winning design to cabinet. “24 Sussex Drive will be built by Canadians for Canadians,” Carney said on Friday, telling reporters that the winning design would be announced on 1 July 2027: Canada Day. “At a time when much of the world is buffeted by crisis, Canada’s history, our institutions and our traditions matter more than ever,” he said, standing outside the uninhabitable building. The prime minister said that while foundations of identity largely take the form of language, culture and laws, buildings can stand as testaments “made of timber and stone … in which we recognize ourselves”. …