In Canada today, public architecture is a lot like a highway: Nobody really asks for it to express Canadian culture, or for it to be culture at all.

Yet public buildings – above all the Houses of Parliament – are central to our national self-image. And right now, with a pair of projects key to the reconstruction of Parliament Hill, Public Services and Procurement Canada is sending mixed messages about how we value architecture.

One is the gut renovation of Centre Block, the Gothic Revival heart of the federal government. Its revamp will cost at least $4.5-billion and take until 2032. Few details of the design, led by the multinational architecture firm HOK, have been released.

And since this spring, architects have been exploring ideas for Block 2. It will remake nine buildings, located on Wellington Street across from Parliament Hill, as office and back-of-house space. This will be a complex juggling of wish lists, heritage preservation and technical requirements. This fall, 12 selected teams of designers will submit concepts, one of which will lead to construction.

The two projects are part of a multiphased rebuild of Parliament Hill. In 2019, the government unveiled the temporary homes of Parliament: new chambers for the House and Senate, created by an army of consultants. Public architecture should reflect a society’s political ideals and aesthetic aspirations; these spaces are all brass and walnut, like a luxury house built for an especially boring banker.

Block 2 could be different. The competition teams include a mix of international and Canadian architects. Among the top names are David Chipperfield, Foster & Partners, Bjarke Ingels Group and Canada’s KPMB.

Keep reading in The Globe and Mail