Canadian Interiors September October 2020

CANADIAN INTERIORS

CDN $8.95 SEPTEMBER OCTOBER 2020

Ready to Return?

September October 2020

Offices looking for a postCOVID future

www.canadianinteriors.com

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Italian design since 2013

Soft. Strong. Smart.

Interiors have a new material. Since 2013.

With low light reflectivity, its surface is extremely opaque, anti-fingerprint and features a pleasant soft touch.

FENIX innovative materials are suitable for different interior design applications: residential, retail, healthcare, hospitality, and office.

J0717 Castoro Ottawa

fenixforinteriors-na.com

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Construction Managers & General Contractors

CONGRATULATIONS – IN 2020 EVERYONE IS A DESIGN WINNER!

The ARIDO Awards Gala has always been an amazing, joyful event bringing together the A&D community, and all its industry partners, to celebrate a night of design excellence.

Photo: Nick Hillier, Unsplash

COVID-19 put a glitch in things this year, but our industry will continue to thrive, and our celebration next year will be even more inspiring and uplifting than ever for our effort!

We know a tremendous amount of great design happened last year, and we offer our congratulations to everyone.

You are all winners in 2020.

MARANT Construction Limited Toronto (Head Office) T 416.425.6650 F 416.425.3868 200 Wicksteed Avenue Toronto, ON Canada M4G 2B6

Ottawa T 613.569.0093 F 613.569.1366 220 Laurier Avenue West, Suite 1680 Ottawa, ON Canada K1P 5Z9

Kitchener-Waterloo T 519.578.1694 F 519.578.2819 51 Breithaupt Street, Suite 100 Kitchener, ON Canada N2H 5G5

www.marant.ca

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teknion.com

essa

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Project > The Cooperators - Regina Designer > HOK Photo > Joel Klassen

Manufacturer of the Finest Custom Furniture and Millwork Drawing upon more than 65 years experience, we take great pride in crafting products that satisfy the most discerning eye.

SVEND NIELSEN Custom Furniture

Custom Furniture, Millwork and Public Seating • 55 Penn Drive, Toronto, Canada, M9L 2A6 Tel: 416-749-0131 nielsen@svendnielsen.com • www.svendnielsen.com

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PHOTO FEATURES CALACATTA TOPAZ AND EMERSON WOOD™ ASH WHITE.

BREATHTAKING VIEWS. ENDLESS POSSIBILITIES. ™

Set the stage for luxury with extra-large porcelain slabs.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THIS JAW-DROPPING DESIGN AT DALTILE.COM

CANADIAN INTERIORS 9/10 2020

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09/102020 Features

29 TAKE A BREATH How good green design can be a weapon to help minimize virus transmission in an office. By Rhys Phillips

32 WHERE WE GO FROM HERE (IS ANYBODY’S GUESS)

In the wake of COVID-19, the “Next Norm” in office design will likely favour clear connections between health and the physical environment. By Peter Sobchak

38 LEARN BY DOING When students are challenged with real-world design assign-

ments, the overall project outcomes are more resilient and solutions more meaningful.

By Peter Sobchak

41 BEHIND CLOSED DOORS How an apathetic approach to diversity in executive

leadership, design education, and professional practice is undermining the future vibrancy of our industry. By Ian Rolston

Regulars

20 THE GOODS Even without trade shows as launch platforms, companies are still re-

leasing new office furniture, plus screens that create physical, visual and acoustic boundaries.

44 OVER & OUT Janis Kravis was a visionary entrepreneur and designer guided by a belief

that a strong creative community should be built on shared ideas and inspiration.

COVER – Designed by Stark Architects, this office/commercial building is the first in North America to be certified by the Passive House Institute. Photo by Kokemor Studio

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Crush™ PANEL @2011modularArts, Inc. Photo by Steve Hall, Hall +Merrick Photography. Designer: Eastlake Studio.

Lucy™ TILE w/silver and gold mirror ©2018 modularArts, Inc.

September | October 2020 / V57 #5

Senior Publisher

Martin Spreer

416-441-2085 x108 Editor in Chief

Peter Sobchak Art Director

Roy Gaiot Contributors

Rhys Phillips, Ian Rolston, Karen R. White

Hive™ BLOCK ©2012 modularArts, Inc. U.S. Patent 8,375,665

Online Editor

Christiane Beya Customer Service / Production

Laura Moffatt

416-441-2085 x104 Circulation Manager

circulation@canadianinteriors.com President of iQ Business Media Inc.

Alex Papanou

Canadian Interiors magazine is published by iQ Business Media Inc. 101 Duncan Mill Road, Suite 302 Toronto ON M3B 1Z3 Telephone 416-441-2085 e-mail: info@canadianinteriors.com website: www.canadianinteriors.com Canadian Interiors publishes six issues, plus a source guide, per year. Printed in Canada. The content of this publication is the property of Canadian Interiors and cannot be reproduced without permission from the publisher.

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Subscription rates > Canada $38.95 per year (plus taxes) U.S.A. $71.95 USD per year, Overseas $98.95 USD per year.

Back issues > Back copies are available for $15 for delivery in Canada, $20 USD for delivery in U.S.A. and $30 USD overseas.

Please send payment to: Canadian Interiors, 101 Duncan Mill Road, Suite 302 Toronto ON M3B 1Z3 or order online www.canadianinteriors.com For subscription and back issues inquiries please call 416-441-2085 x104 e-mail: circulation@canadianinteriors.com, or go to our website at: www.canadianinteriors.com Canadian Interiors is indexed in the Canadian Magazine Index by Micromedia ProQuest Company, Toronto (www.micromedia.com) and National Archive Publishing Company, Ann Arbor, Michigan (www.napubco.com).

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com

Next time in

Minéral Blanchette Architectes designs a new multi-experience Montréal bar that’s “warmly glacial.”

Portland Residence Atelier Barda injects classic lines into a full residential renovation on the Island of Montréal.

The best and brightest of Canadian design!

Collingwood Residence A collaboration between an established practice and an emerging studio that is responsive and personal.

FlightHub ACDF Architecture’s new offices for an online travel agency delivers materiality reflective of both the digital world and the interstitial space of travel.

www.canadianinteriors.com

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inside

Listen to the Science

This clarion call rang loudly in the noisy wake of COVID-19, and for good reason, because reason is so badly needed right now. Which is why a note in that clamour stuck out as concerning when it signaled murmurs of misrepresentation brewing around an important topic: antimicrobial materials.

It comes as no surprise that intensive COVID-19 disinfection regimes have rocketed to top-of-mind for building owners and occupants; and equally of no surprise that companies that make disinfectant products, or surface products that carry antimicrobial properties, quickly pivoted to spotlight those features. But according to a June 15, 2020 article appearing in Bloomberg Law, businesses are rushing to disinfect their spaces at a pace that is “alarming health and environmental safety experts” due to the potential exposure “to chemicals that are largely untested for human health.” While no doubt effective in terminating the virus, “this doesn’t mean they are considered safe with regard to human health,” said Lesliam Quirós-Alcalá, an assistant professor at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

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A growing chorus agrees. “While the appeal of such materials is obvious, many in the scientific community have concerns that an overreliance of antimicrobials will lead to increased resistance,” said Veronica Givone, managing director of Hospitality at IA Interior Architects in a blog post. Some are taking the debate even further.

According to global firm Perkins and Will and the non-profit Healthy Building Network (HBN), from workplaces and schools to locker rooms, hospitals, and laboratories, the science shows that products with antimicrobial additives have no proven health benefits. According to a March 2017 white paper on antimicrobial building products co-produced by the organizations (and re-released this past May), no scientific evidence exists that demonstrates additional human health benefits from antimicrobial additives in building products and materials, despite marketing claims suggesting otherwise.

Let’s admit it, what we want to hear during these erratic times are calming statements of guidance towards solutions, but what we need to be wary of are any “silver-bullet” claims that lead to false senses of security. “We have to focus on science to guide our decisions,” says HBN Chief Research Officer and toxicologist Teresa McGrath, and so far scientists are saying human health is best ensured through proper cleaning practices such as wiping down surfaces with soap and water before treating them with an approved disinfectant and through proper maintenance of building engineering systems.

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caught our eye

Place Settings A new colourful installation titled Your Place at the Table! was conceived to safely accommodate and attract citizens currently reappropriating downtown MontrÊal after weeks of COVID-19 confinement. Designed by ADHOC Architectes in collaboration with graphic designers Maude Lescarbeau and Camille Blais, the layout is designed to offer passers-by a space to promenade or to sit and relax while respecting current sanitation and social distancing norms. www.adhoc-architectes.com

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Still Works The N.200 lounge chair by Gebrüder Thonet Vienna was one of only two home furniture pieces to receive a Best of the Best accolade in the Red Dot Award: Product Design 2020. Bent beech and woven cane is the company’s DNA, but Michael Anastassiades’s design “brilliantly merges a new approach in construction with the use of a traditional technique,” said the Jury. “The result is an iconic design language embodying harmonious proportions and an outstanding implementation down to all details.” www.gebruederthonetvienna.com

Click Bait Humanscale has applied their ergonomic expertise to a new computer mouse through a partnership with Razer, a lifestyle brand for gamers. Designed to minimize health risks associated with long-term mousing, including tendonitis and carpal tunnel syndrome, the Pro Click contours the user’s wrist at a neutral 30-degrees, with palm, thumb, and pinky supported to minimize contact stress with the desk. www.humanscale.com

Little of This, Little of That Vancouver-based design duo Tanja Hinder and Lauren Bugliarisi have launched a new brand called Marrimor Objects under the tagline “Nice Things for Nonconformists” and already have two solid products out of the gate: Toof, a rounded side table/ottoman mix; and Toss, colourful throw pillows (hence the name). Both items showcase the pair’s love of color, texture and juxtaposition. www.marrimor.com

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how it’s made

F40/M50 stool

Building a stool that captures the sculptural qualities of cycling.

By Martin Spreer Photography by Lily Fletcher

Mariposa Bicycles and Fig40 have a lot in common, even beyond the obvious, which is they design objects people sit on. Both have a passion for craftsmanship (Fig40’s furniture for commercial environments have won multiple awards, and Mariposa is celebrating 50 years as a high-end hand-made bespoke custom bicycle maker) and a passion for cycling (Fig40 founders Lee Fletcher and Terence WoodCANADIAN INTERIORS 9/10 2020

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side are enthusiastic cyclists, while at Mariposa owners Dede Barry is an Olympic cycling medalist and Mike Barry a former Tour de France regular), so while the “sitting” action may be different for their signature objects, a collaboration between the two studios seemed natural.

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www.mariposabicycles.ca / www.fig40.com

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1—The F40/M50 stool is built using traditional bicycle parts such as lugs, tubing and paint in the Mariposa workshop. The crown/baseplates at the top of the stool are made in a local Toronto workshop.

4—After the brazing process is finished the stools are spray-painted by hand with a special bicycle paint, which is later baked on to give strong scratch resistant finish.

2—The pieces are joined together using a brazing process with brass filler metal to create a strong permanent bond.

5—Horizontal coloured bands are inspired by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) world champion jersey colours.

3—The stool sits at bar height. Actual bicycle frame lugs are used to make the lower footrest connections in the frame.

6—The metal frame is topped with a varnished oak seat, made in the same Toronto workshop as the crown/baseplates.

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A second glance, with a new beginning.

Exploring fiber, structure and process, the Mutable Matter collection transforms renewable and recycled fibers into new surfaces that range from the earthly to the atmospheric.

Introducing Mutable Matter, our latest collection designed by Suzanne Tick.

luumtextiles.com

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FITT COLLECTION DESIGN BY

VICTOR CARRASCO

TUSCHSEATING.COM

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the goods

Back in the Saddle The cancellations of trade shows from this year’s calendar of design events has not stopped companies from unveiling new office product to the industry.

Brighton | Integra Seating Significant upgrades have been made to models in the Alpine Collection, in particular an all-sides clean-out option. With space between the seat, back and sides, this feature not only reduces the time needed to clean the seat, but enables more of the entire seat and surrounding surfaces to be thoroughly sanitized. They are also compliant with the Healthier Hospitals Initiative of Safer Chemicals Challenge. www.integraseating.com

Compiled by Peter Sobchak

Palomar | Foscarini Ludovica and Roberto Palomba’s interconnecting design brings to mind a chic telescope: the upper metal ferrule acts as a traditional illuminator projecting intense upwards lighting, while the two translucent compartments at the bottom bring diffused ambiance lighting downwards to seating level. www.foscarini.com

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Adell | Arper Lievore + Altherr DĂŠsile Park designed this lounge chair with sustainability front of mind: the shell is made of 80 per cent recycled polypropylene; can be further disassembled and upcycled; the seating is constructed without glue; and no harmful VOCs in its finishes. www.arper.com

L1 Task Chair | Allseating The name for this new ergonomic task chair comes from the L1 lumbar vertebra, clearly signalling its primary focus: back support. An integrated seat slider allows for simple calibration, with two-directional arms for forearm and shoulder comfort. www.allseating.com

Attach | Inspec Sandler This new division of Sandler offers a range of Scandinavian furniture designs targeting the corporate market. The legs of this clever table system do not need to be screwed, threaded or twisted on. Extruded aluminum beams and structural extruded aluminum legs are attached to the tabletop and secured by gravity, and repositioned along the mounting beam in numerous configurations with minimal interference to the table. www.inspecfurniture.com

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the goods Swurve | Keilhauer Designed by Andrew Jones, this is the company’s firstever carbon neutral chair built around an aggressive plan to reduce carbon emissions: from sustainably sourcing materials and responsible manufacturing, to a carefully thought-through end-of-life and recyclability plan reviewed by third-party Lifecycle Assessment conforming to ISO 14044. Where carbon emissions remain, such as during transportation, Keilhauer is investing in carbon reduction and climate change mitigation projects to offset. www.keilhauer.com

Patkau Collection | Nienkämper The creation of Vancouver-based Patkau Architects, this collection includes a Bench, ideal for galleries and public spaces; Twist Chair, made of two layers of Birch plywood “twisted” to form complex curves; and drawing on their award-winning ice warming huts, the Cocoon (shown), an unusual office feature that will have an interesting time finding a place in what will undoubtedly be a time of change for office interiors. www.nienkamper.com

dB Pillar Collection | Unika Vaev Designer Thomas Bernstrand has devised an interesting new addition to the contract acoustical textile segment. These pillars employ unique features that substantially reduce the level of low frequency noise, while also giving a nod to waste reduction, as each pillar is filled with textile scraps from Abstracta’s factory. The collection includes stools and tables with power outlets for phones and laptops and in various heights, fabrics and colours. www.unikavaev.com

Sly Occasional Tables | Studio TK The inspiration for the very first collection created in-house at Studio TK’s was the lucky coin that the designer remembers his grandfather always flipping, and that he now owns. Sly’s illusory edge detailing creates a sense of nonconformity to the traditional norms.

Although the table surface appears to be angled, it is in fact perfectly level. www.studiotk.com

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Parkdale Table | Spec This collaborative table comes with either a single top, or a split top with a three inch gap.

The latter accommodates clip-on power modules throughout the entire length of the table, acting as an integrated channel for wire management, and has the capability to mount table screens and other dividers. Available in three heights, four different widths, and 76 base finish colours. www.specfurniture.com

Lagunitas Lounge System | Coalesse Designed by Toan Nguyen, this collection of architectural structures create soft barriers, allowing for safer distancing. The system adapts to changing work styles and shifting postures. Pictured here, the Lagunitas Focus Nook pairs with the rest of the collection for varying degrees of privacy. www.coalesse.com

hiSpace Quick Connect Tables | Teknion Suitable for the agile worker, who requires multiple modes of posture, these height-adjustable tables provide seamless flexibility through the re-engineering of integrated features, including a “Connection Kit� top frame, Slide & Lock leg columns, and Power Pak. www.teknion.com

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the goods

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1 Barriers | Raydoor This New York-based sliding door company is drawing from their existing raw materials to make new social distancing partitions with different finishes and aesthetics. A variety of lines within the collection cover partition needs for areas such as commercial reception desks, check-in counters, cash registers (Side Frame); open-floor office spaces, waiting rooms, lounge areas (Perimeter) and even a line designed for bars, restaurants and hotels (Base Frame).

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www.raydoor.com

For Your Protection

As people return to the office, these new screens create physical, visual and acoustic boundaries.

2 Velcro Social Distancing Strap | Sandler While not a barrier like the rest in this round-up, this Social Distancing Strap nevertheless helps individuals adhere to distancing regulations. Made from brushed aluminium with the ability for custom signage to be added, the strap attaches to any upholstered seating model using a Velcro strap. Expect to see products like this in university lecture theatres, schools, conference halls, cinemas, theatres, public transport and business auditoriums. www.sandlerseating.com

Compiled by Peter Sobchak

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3 Connect Safe Screen Collection | Yellow Goat Design This collection aims to bring artistry and confidence to workspaces with fluted acrylics, digital printed acrylic, laser cut, and polycarbonate screens that define physical distance, while also maintaining social communication through designs. These screens are easily customized for colour, size, print to suit any space. www.yellowgoatdesign.com

4 Wellness Divider | Integra Seating Free-standing at an overall height of 52� and a weight of just 26 lbs., the polycarbonate divider with base and upright supports in solid steel with silver powder coat finish combines a clean, minimalist aesthetic and functional design to create space between seated guests in waiting rooms, lounges and lobby areas. www.integraseating.com

5 Palisades Vista | Spacestor With transparent acrylic panels and a black metal structure reminiscent of steel-framed windows, this new system offers a minimalistic solution to bacteria spread.

The panels can be removed from their frames and converted into desktop, freestanding, or mobile partitions, and the entire system can be customized with accessories like screen extensions, acoustic panels, white boards, sanitization stations, storage lockers, and coloured panel options.

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www.spacestor.com

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the goods

1 BuzziTripl | BuzziSpace This privacy panel system uses BuzziSpace’s patented acoustical felt material seen on all its other product lines, and is divided into two main categories: Desk, for the office; and Home, to help eliminate that visual and audio distractions that inevitably pop-up during those now ubiquitous Zoom video calls. www.buzzi.space 2 glassSCREENS>Shield Collection | CARVART Intentionally made from glass, an anti-porous and scratch-resistant material that is resiliant to bacteria and increasingly durable, ensuring a greater product longevity and therefore perfect for communal counters, front desks, cashiers, group work and other interactive spaces that require protection. Produced in Brooklyn, New York, each unit can be shipped within one week.

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www.carvart.com

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3 WellGuard Separation Panels | Humanscale Designed to limit airborne particles between workstations, these panels are available in three finishes: clear or frosted; felted PET; and plastic resin (PETG) that will not crack, discolour, or degrade after being cleaned with heavy-duty chemicals. Available in six mounting options, permanent or removable, the panels accommodate a variety of workstations and can attach to any new or preexisting surface. www.humanscale.com

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4 Leef | Eventscape Three new collections have been added to Eventscape’s Leef brand, and include: Trillium, mobile nesting screens on locking swivel casters with magnets positioned along the sides to connect multiple screens in various configurations; Iris (pictured), freestanding divider screen on a single wheel with angled leg; and Aster modular desktop divider screens, perfect for shared workspaces. www.leef.ca 5 Quick Separation Screens | Stylex With an impressive lead time of only 10 business days, these screens live up to their name. A top connecting screw allows grouped panels to create any size corner angle, and can stand alone or be grouped together with optional casters to move or nest when not in use. Available in two heights and two widths, they come standard with ½” plated-steel feet that may be specified in 26 powder-coated colours, and upholstery options are plentiful. www.stylexseating.com 6 Safe Spaces | HAT Contract & SiS Ergo Like many other companies pivoting to meet this product need, there are two collections available; Office and Home, and within those are several sub-lines to address specific user needs. In Office, for example, the Mesa Slide Divider (shown) provides three protective surfaces that enclose a desk at an above-desk height of 24”, is lightweight and portable and can be quickly slipped on or off any desking area. www.HATContract.com / www.SiSErgo.com

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Maskwacis Young Spirit Winds Design: The Workun Garrick Partnership Architecture And Interior Design Inc. Fitted stretch fabric acoustic panels with digital print, mounted to teepee interior

design / develop / deliver

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eurOptimum.com

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Take a breath

By Rhys Phillips

How good green design can be a weapon to help minimize virus transmission in an office.

Above The wheeled “cabin” meeting room, built by Tree Construction, is CLT with IKEA’s Docksta pedestal table and Karljan chairs.

Photography by Kokemor Studio

Air quality in modern office buildings has always been a contentious issue, never more so than with the coronavirus pandemic. For example in August, the Globe and Mail’s Alex Bozikovic called for a rapid audit of and appropriate response to Ontario schools’ often outdated and poorly maintained air control systems. “Ventilation is the most critical part of reducing transmission from respiratory viruses,” Dr. Jonathan Stafford Nguyen Van-Tam, Deputy Chief Medical Officer for England, stated last April.

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When Squamish, B.C.-based Stark Architects designed the modest, three-storey Tantrum commercial building on a narrow, long neglected site in Revelstoke’s core, COVID-19 was not yet on the radar. Client Michelle Bowlen wanted street-level space for husband Selim Sabbagh’s bicycle shop and office space above for both her law practice and for co-working clients fleeing expensive Vancou9/10 2020 CANADIAN INTERIORS

Clockwise from top Strong colours in the recycled fishnet carpet by Interface and art by the project’s interior designer Kimberly Offord plays off raw concrete and natural wood in the light-filled, double height great room. Spatially distant desks for Tree Construction’s office are IKEA Skarsta stand/sit bases with custom wood tops. The Lignatur CLT spruce ceilings are perforated for sound attenuation. Lighting fixtures are from KUZCO Lighting. Pine planks are applied to the law office’s CLT interior walls while IKEA provides the office furnishings.

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Tantrum’s geometry is three elongated boxes stacked such that the first level is recessed both front and back under the cantilever of the longest second level. The third is set well back on the building’s street facade. The street level houses the bicycle store’s retail, workshop and rental areas, the last accessible from rear lane parking. As throughout all levels, the peripheral, precast concrete sandwich wall is left raw. Strips of naturally stained wood are applied to accommodate display racks. Honey-rich wood is repeated in the long service desk that sits below a unique cluster of flat LED panel lights.

Stairs, accessed directly from the street, ascend to the upper twolevel spaces that are not what they seem from the exterior. The middle section is a two-storey “great room” with large south facing clerestory windows at the third-storey level, flooding the interior with natural light. Two single-storey enclosed offices extend into the cantilever, both with south-facing windows pouring more light through transparent glass walls into the great room. Behind the double height central space is more co-working space augmented by two private offices. A mezzanine level above overlooks the twostorey space and includes both open workspace and a single enclosed office.

ver. With Stark and principal David Arnott, she selected a firm focused squarely on green design. Thus, Tantrum is North America’s only Passivhaus commercial building certified by the Germanbased Passivhaus Institute.

To achieve this designation, a building must use 90 per cent less energy for heating and cooling than standard buildings. A key requirement — along with four to five times normal insulation and south facing windows for passive solar heating — is air tightness. Air volume leak-out is limited to 0.4 per cent. Energy usage must only be 15 kilowatt hours per square metre (compared to 200-300 standards).

Air quality issues facilitating the transmission of COVID-19 respiratory viruses can result from such tight envelops.

Tantrum, however, uses two Passivhaus-accepted energy recovery ventilation (ERV) units that continuously pull in fresh external air while venting interior air 24/7. The incoming air is warmed or cooled by the exiting interior air, achieving 80 to 90 per cent transfer efficiency without co-mingling and thus without any opportunity for cross-contamination. Interior air is fully replaced each hour. In addition, ERV systems maintain optimum humidity which further counters virus transmission. As there is no co-mingling, HEPA filters are employed only on air intake to remove pollutants.

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The law office space, designed with interior designer Kimberly Offord, has been kept simple with the grey concrete perimeter walls matched with wood planks on some office walls and elegant, partially perforated wood ceilings. Sheer walls, floors and ceilings are Lignatur’s prefabricated cross-laminated timber (CLT) panels. Playful colour is contributed by carpet tiles created from reclaimed fishing nets.

The great room is further animated by a whimsical mobile meeting room, literally a CLT peaked-roof cabin on wheels.

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Without compromising design, the future of healthy interiors must and can be based on understanding the need for and maintenance of excellent ventilation.

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Where we go from here

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Corporate leaders are naturally wondering if workplace facilities can be updated to hygienic environments in the short-term without a complete space overhaul, and companies such as commercial flooring giant Interface are here to say “yes!” Mindy O’Gara, Director of Product and Learning Experience at Interface, suggests developing a strategy focused on surfaces and interior finishes that can be easily implemented without a full remodel or construction.

Examples include: utilize floor markings and design to provide visual cues; prompt safe distancing behaviours with the flooring via alternating colours or patterns; creating lanes for organized, oneway movement in corridors; and set space standards and guidelines in open spaces by creating “zones” marked by furniture arrangement and differing flooring designs to suggest boundaries.

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In the wake of COVID-19, the “Next Norm” in office design will likely favour clear connections between health and the physical environment.

By Peter Sobchak

Images courtesy of Interface

The infamous invocation “May you live in interesting times” seems particularly apt these days, doesn’t it? Widely assumed to be a translation of a traditional Chinese curse, there is actually no recorded evidence supporting this assumption, a fact that recalls another popular invocation, this time about “assumptions” (as a reminder, the joke is based on the spelling of the word “assume”). As superfluous as that sounds, it neatly encapsulates the “interesting” situation designers currently find themselves in, because to make any headway in a discussion about what the future of the workplace will be post-COVID, we must make at least a few assumptions. So, let’s start with those.

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To begin with, the pandemic has undeniably demonstrated the technological feasibility of working remotely, meaning that more flexible work-from-home policies will almost certainly gain adoption. Logically, this implies that fewer employees coming into the office, due to a combination of layoffs and an increase in working from home, could mean less need for office space. However, safety 9/10 2020 CANADIAN INTERIORS

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Anticipating workers returning to the workplace, Allsteel has embraced a Japanese product-design philosophy called Poka-yoke to help clients achieve distancing goals in both workstations and shared spaces, traffic flow, and safer behaviour. Created in the 1960s by engineer Shigeo Shingo, Poka-yoke considers how furniture shape, design, layering, and orientation can function as intuitive boundaries in addition to visual cues that define traffic flow and encourage distancing. “The addition of space-defining elements can help create individual zones in a workspace,” says Lauren Gant, manager of Applied Ergonomics & Human Factors for Allsteel and HNI, and blending guidelines and protocols with products and accessories can help space users social distance while creating physical barriers that do not detract from overall workplace design.

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protocols that require people to be spaced at least six feet apart could cause more demand for office space so that the people who arrive to work aren’t as packed in as they used to be.

Tenants are currently reviewing office space strategies, but scope of changes and impact will only unfold when leases are renewed. In the longer term, the potential reduction in space requirements associated with the increase in the number of work-from-home workers will likely be offset by less density per workstation, but it is not yet clear whether the balance will be positive or negative, or in what proportions.

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Ultimately, the nature of existing office leases will likely temper upheaval in the office market. That said, there will be many waves of change and immediate re-entry to the workplace is just the first one. While it seems safe to speculate that the ubiquitous open office approach will likely lose favour in the short- to medium-term, for most companies a complete redesign is also not realistic. This is where design professionals will be called upon to leverage their skills to create spaces that make occupants feel safe, comfortable, and supported even if drastic overhauls are not in the cards.

When Doors Finally Re-Open

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Howard Mark, co-founder of Oaktree Capital Management, hit the nail on the head when he said this: “These days everyone has the same data regarding the present and the same ignorance regarding the future.” With so many parts still moving and so many variables in the equation still undefined, the office environment’s future is largely shrouded in mist. However, several aspects seem to have naturally presented themselves as “top-of-list” for space managers.

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“There are no blanket solutions.

Effective design is inherently individual and iterative.”

First, we will undoubtedly see an increased commitment to hygiene and sanitation from both a workplace operational aspect and a space user aspect. Strict protocols to ensure thorough maintenance of the working environment must be applied not just to janitorial staff but employees as well. “Hand washing must be approached as both an infrastructure issue as well as behavioural one,” says Rachel BannonGodfrey, Stantec’s Denver-based Global Discipline Leader for Sustainability. Expect to see hand sanitizer stations being treated like emergency exit signs: able to be seen from any point in the office.

“Strategically positioned hand-washing infrastructure, including space clearance in sinks, can limit touch points and reduce opportunities for pathogen transmission,” says Bannon-Godfrey. Of course, restrooms will be highly scrutinized: from proper water temperature and pressure to ensuring automatically controlled sensor-based faucets run for the recommended time. Lights placed over sinks can provide a visual cue on timing, and “dynamic signage can act as a visual reminder,” says Bannon-Godfrey. “For situational cues to be effective they should change frequently to avoid blending into the background noise of restrooms.”

Dyonne Fashina, Denizens of Design

No-touch and contactless products are in increasing demand, particularly for high-traffic areas. The SanitGrasp door pull handle, for example, allows a person to use their wrist or arm to open a public restroom door. “The concept was to replace the last touch point in a restroom, which is traditionally a pull handle,” says inventor Matthew Fulkerson.

Next comes the traditional workstation reinvention. As workers begin the transition back into the workplace, companies will undoubtedly experiment with layout geometry as they reconfigure desking areas. Goodbye classic linear bench desking styles and sitting directly opposite someone: hello desks at 90-degree angles from one another, facing different directions. One trending method is a checkerboard approach, where only alternate desks are used in a linear run. Hot-desking will likely be shelved in the short-term (and at governmental insistence) in favour of employees having a dedicated space for a day to avoid cross contamination, and desking reservations may become more rigid and enforced.

For the desks themselves, John Comacchio, senior vice president and Chief Information Officer at Teknion, believes companies will be reverting to cubicle-like enclosed structures, but with an updated twist.

He calls this the “cubicle of tomorrow,” a space where employees will feel comfortable and in control of their own environment, without feeling cut off from the larger office space. Enter separation panels.

Undoubtedly an aesthetic anathema to designers, evidence is mounting that separation panels work to contain microdroplets at a workstation. In a webinar with Humanscale, ergonomics and indoor air quality expert Dr. Alan Hedge showed two simulations of what happens to the microdroplets dispelled when someone sneezes at a workstation: at a desk without panels, microdroplets move quickly across the room and encounter someone eight feet away; at a desk with 30-inch tall panels microdroplets are stopped.

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Collaboration spaces will of course need a major re-think. To adhere with physical distancing protocols, conference room capacities will be reduced, while in smaller enclosed meeting spaces, where distances cannot be achieved, companies may consider repurposing these as single occupant spaces, ideally optimized for video conferencing. “With an increase in remote working, virtual collaboration technology will need to be much more integral to collaboration spaces to create an inclusive experience for all, regardless of location,” say experts in a whitepaper produced by Spacestor.

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Thermal imaging cameras that can detect elevated skin temperature enable a contactless way of measuring body temperature from six feet away. As Dave Hopping, president of Siemens Smart Infrastructure USA said in a blog post, “the highlight from a technology perspective is that these cameras can be integrated into a building’s existing security and access solution systems.”

The Long, Winding Road Ahead

Physical distancing and the resulting additional operating costs will remain as long as there is no vaccine or risk of a second wave of infection cases, and perhaps beyond.

What has been made clear is that most people can work effectively from home, but many also want to return to the office at least some of the time. This means small businesses that cannot make big design changes will need to alter how they interact with the work environment. It is likely there will still be a need for open/unassigned workspace, but it will take a different form, with perhaps more individualized settings supporting various types of work. Businesses may decide to assign a different purpose to each day of the week: Mondays for quiet, focused work; Tuesdays for sales teams that need interaction and collaboration, and so on, where both time and space are allocated to serve the purposes of different teams, roles and personalities. In a webinar discussion with Spacestor, Adrienne Rowe, global director of workplace strategy at Merck, sees it as “resetting and really treating [these] environments like hospitality environments so that people feel safe and comfortable in them on a day-to-day basis.”

Workplace design will need to capture why people want to come into a space and what they want to get out of it. But be warned: that will be a moving target, making a post-pandemic workplace seemingly in perpetual beta. With few, if any, precedents to draw upon, design decisions moving forward will need to be data driven, behaviour based, individual and with no blanket solutions. That said, re-entry will happen, and its approach will need to be practical and achievable, as illustrated by the sentiments of 115 Canadian commercial real estate executives from white collar companies surveyed by Altus Group regarding the impacts of COVID-19 on the office sector. In the short term, they said, the timid return to the office will not have much impact on revenues (except for parking revenues). However, protocols for returning to the office with physical distancing measures involve more resources for training, security, cleaning and disinfection.

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“I don’t think the race to create super-tall buildings with their packed elevators and dense, open-plan model of workplace can continue as the pro forma that makes those buildings economically feasible will change or even disappear,” says Caroline Robbie, principal at Toronto-based Quadrangle, in an op-ed. “What if the traditional one-company lease arrangement goes out the window? The model of shared space to facilitate accidental creative innovation will take a hit as potential minimum space per person legislation will, like tall buildings, affect the real estate model, making shared offices financially untenable. The model might change to something similar to discipline-sharing models. For example, aligned architecture, design, construction, and engineering firms might enter into a joint lease agreement based on timesharing rather than defined physical footprints. The coming changes might result in an increased demand for co-working services as companies elect to invest less in permanent space and more into distributed work requirements from home.”

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“The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated” said Mark Twain, in a famous cable sent from London to the United States press in response to his mistakenly published obituary. The same is true of the office: it is not going anywhere anytime soon, which gives the design industry an incredible opportunity. “The global pandemic has taught us that it is okay to take a breath and assess what is truly important,” says Dyonne Fashina, principal of Toronto-based Denizens of Design.

“The best responses will result from deep research, strategic thinking and a focus on the wellbeing of people. When applied to physical environments and the businesses that occupy them, we can use this opportunity to produce highly efficient spaces with happy employees.”

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View from Entrance

View from Collaboration Area to CI and CA workstations

Floor plan Sectors Legend iQ Business Media Office iQ Publisher’s Office space “The Hub” Co-working Area iQ Community/Conference space Humber / Public Access Open to below

This page “This concept enriches the iQ Business Media office space with new innovative collaboration spaces that are implemented to help the team work together and have small hubs to gather in. These spaces can be used by teams or individually for an employee to have down time to restore their well-being,” says Nicola Klahre in her concept brief.

Learn by Doing When students are challenged with real-world design assignments, the overall project outcomes are more resilient and the solutions more meaningful.

By Peter Sobchak

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In a world as fluid and evolving as the one we live in today, interior designer and educator Anna Stranks believes it is not enough for design students to “go through the motions” of just theoretical explorations in design studios. Research data cannot keep up with the rapid changes and observing life from a digital screen cannot fully construct the empathy and deeper knowledge that designers require to solve their client’s problems. “The interior design profession is heavily based on qualitative research, which is very sensory orientated,” says Stranks. “You see the bulb go off faster when students’ learning experiences include strong connections to people and places outside of the studio and collaborating with external partners who can identify opportunities and challenges in real time for a project.”

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Reception

Publishing Work Zone

Floor plan

This page According to Lily Donald’s concept brief, “the Powerhouse is the main area where work is produced efficiently and effectively. The design of the iQ Business Media office encourages collaboration, energy, innovation and focus through elements of scale, light and circulation.

Each zone of the office is connected to the central Powerhouse.”

This belief resonated strongly as Stranks began building a semesterlong internal studio project for her third-year Interior Design students in the Faculty of Applied Science and Technology at Toronto’s Humber College, and soon a solution became clear: “I wanted to find a client who has an interesting business model and keen interest in innovation and design excellence, and a deep understanding of the design and construction industry both nationally and internationally,” says Stranks. Which led her to approach iQ Business Media, a Toronto-based B2B media company and owner of this magazine as well as Canadian Architect, Building, Design Source Guide and Supply Professional, as a client partner for this project. Working closely with iQ Business Media, Stranks shaped a client program that would, in her words, “provide the students with a rich narrative for the project

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and an opportunity to position themselves as critical thinkers and creative co-partners while collaborating with external resources.”

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In the project brief, students were challenged to “re-imagine a new kind of workplace environment for iQ Business Media, which would allow the organization to connect with their audience in dynamic ways and expand the programming of their business brand,” and “employ design strategies situated in human-centred and inclusive design principles addressing visible and invisible abilities; evidencebased design workplace strategies which support well-being and productivity; technological advancements and environmental design best practices while keeping in mind the client’s business model and building code compliances.”

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Floor plan

This page “The conceptual approach amongst this office space is RISE, which focuses on future company growth.

In terms of design, authentic working spaces that involve outstanding social collaborative areas will be implemented, to enhance the ability of working together,” said John Armstrong in his concept brief.

In order for the entire class to have the same building frame of reference, they were instructed to carve out the best 10,000 square feet for iQ Business Media from the new Student Welcome and Resource Centre on Humber’s Lakeshore Campus. In addition to the immediate iQ office space, the new space program included zones for conferences and social gatherings; onsite production and editing capabilities for various media productions; immersive zones; exhibition spaces; library and resource centre; and a coworking office space available to the design community. Collaboration was also done with reps at Haworth’s downtown Toronto showroom, who provided additional learning resources to enhance the students’ understanding of workplace design and appropriate furniture specification.

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At the completion of the project, a day of poster presentations was conducted at the Haworth showroom with industry veterans to provide feedback, strengthen the student’s communication skills and select a shortlist of favourites. A little later, that shortlist was invited to virtually present (due to COVID-19) their project to the team at iQ Business Media, which included myself, publisher Martin Spreer and owner Alex Papanou, after which three Top of Class students were selected: Lily Donald; Nicola Klahre; and John Armstrong.

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“The future looks hopeful, as interior design students demonstrated that their eyes are wide open to new ideas and capable of solving complex problems even during unpredictable disruptive times,” says Stranks.

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Behind closed doors How an apathetic approach to diversity in executive leadership, design education, and professional practice is undermining the future vibrancy of our industry.

Dallas, 2007. While sitting alone outside the boardroom of a corporate office, I listened as a team of seasoned design executives argued inside about whether I should be allowed to lead the project. I listened and waited as one leader after another abdicated his responsibility of leadership. In that moment, I realized: titles do not make leaders. Actions do. Especially behind closed doors.

Sitting there, I wondered, “What did I do? What did I miss? Why did they ask me to leave the room?” I had presented well. I accounted for their concerns and proposed solutions to key issues they hadn’t con-

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By Ian Rolston

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sidered. I did my job. I was professional. So, what was the problem?

Then it dawned on me. The problem wasn’t my performance, the problem was me. My difference disrupted their sensibilities, distracted their focus and ultimately derailed the meeting.

As the world is experiencing an awakening to acknowledge systems of racial injustice, it is no surprise that what ails society also ails our beloved industry. We must now begin the serious work of grappling with the pain of racism within our own walls and behind our impeccably designed closed doors. In our conservative Canadian culture, 9/10 2020 CANADIAN INTERIORS

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While you consider, may I suggest we begin together. Now. Regardless of your years of experience, title or position, this moment requires us to have hard conversations that lead to action. Let us together design the change our industry needs. Let us bring our full acumen, talents and sense of humanity to bear on the thinking and actions that enable the practices that lead to racial disparity within our industry.

racial prejudice persists quietly. Yet, it is no less damaging. When examining the lack of diversity in executive leadership in design education and professional practice, the disparity is glaring, especially for a country known for its diversity.

The stark reality reveals a dangerous complacency that represents the greatest risk to the future vibrancy of our industry. Design, at its core, is about openness, mindfulness and considering one’s sense of humanity. As an industry, we can no longer just claim the moniker of diversity or inclusion. We must embody it, model behaviour that supports its ideals and respectively call out the counterfeit. If not, we will lose our credibility in serving humanity and suffer the consequences that hypocrisy inevitably establishes: indifference, the fuel of injustice.

Let us determine to lead by example, because design is at the heart of every aspect of life. Our discipline and attention to details create spaces, places and objects that infuse life with good. This good enables better work, better play, better moments of connection that improve our quality of life. I believe together we can craft what “better” looks like, to reimagine our own walls, behind our closed doors, with new perspectives that frame representation without racial disparities amongst our executive ranks.

Considerations The moment has come for us as leaders to ask ourselves a few questions. The first is, as an industry, as colleagues, as a community, as a family, as human beings, where do we begin to address the biases that nourish the root causes of racial disparities within design? Wait.

Let me clarify, as “we” lacks the specificity and urgency this moment requires. Where do YOU begin (YOU being the most vital part of the we) to affect change on this issue?

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Second question: as a leader, do you want to? No, not the YOU in we, just you. Do you want change? Do you want to do the work of selfreflection to confront your own biases, motives and practices that create obstacles to establishing change?

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As we reflect, change has its risks. In this moment, leaders are being held to account, exposed as either complicit in maintaining racial

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(IDC) is stepping in front of the issue. Kruse and his team are currently leading focussed discussions on racial disparities within the Canadian design industry, leveraging its long history of advocacy to support change.

disparities or catalysts of change. The latter requires intentional, transformative conviction for doing the work of reinforcing and building the foundation on which this change will stand.

Consider the intentional work by OCAD University led by Dr. Sara Diamond, president and vice-chancellor from 2005 to 2020, and Dr. Elizabeth (Dori) Tunstall, installed as the first Black dean of a school of design anywhere in the world. Together they have set a course to actively address the lack of diversity in executive leadership at one of Canada’s most prominent Art and Design schools.

Design practice leaders must do the same. Each must reflect on their own ideals and practices to avoid the shortcomings uncovered by Pamela Newkirk in her book, Diversity Inc., which highlights the failure of corporate diversity programs that limit diversity to the managerial and production ranks of their organizations while executive ranks and boards remain homogeneous. Conscious clients and talent perceive this approach to diversity as antiquated and a failure on the part of leadership to recognize the importance of leveraging difference as central to brand, client service and innovation.

For Dean Tunstall, it is not enough to have a diverse student body that reflects Toronto. Her leadership determined that inclusion was required at the highest level of the institution’s administration. To give voice, perspective and guidance to the indispensable, albeit hard work of making diversity a priority, Dean Tunstall’s leadership has led to the recent hiring of five prominent Black, professional design innovators as full-time professors in the Faculty of Design, the first in the school’s 144-year history.

Looking back at that moment in Dallas in 2007, I was encouraged by two other realizations. First, my difference had the power to interrupt the complacent disposition of those leaders. My presence created a conversation that forced people to confront their motivations and demanded action. Second, I was reminded of the conversation that transpired between myself and my design leader before that infamous meeting. He told me that the design executives were not comfortable with me presenting to them. I was preparing to mask my humiliation and diminish the awkwardness of the situation by graciously agreeing to bow out when he smiled and said, “You’re presenting.” As I sat outside that boardroom, listening to the fallout of his decision, I considered the fact that even though these executives fought against it, I was in the room. I had a leader, who acknowledged my difference, my skill, work ethic and talent and insisted on my inclusion.

OCAD University leadership responded to the need for change, as an internal audit revealed that only 13 per cent of faculty were people of colour serving a 50 per cent racialized student body.

Dean Tunstall’s presence and commitment to action has created a space and model for change. While not all the issues have been solved, the work has begun.

Perspective When asked about the lack of diversity in design leadership, IIDA executive vice president and CEO Cheryl Durst responded, “Diversity is not only about race and gender, but also diversity of thought and discipline. It is… a topic that can be difficult to address in a way that is productive.” Yet, it is the responsibility of design leaders to translate conversations of racial disparities into productive actions that address them. Unfortunately, in Canada there is no comparable statistical data that identify the disparities of race in design leadership. Yet another barrier to addressing the issue.

There are two types of design leaders: one builds; the other breaks.

One draws on their sense of humanity to cultivate openness to achieve the greater good, the other on closed-mindedness and insecurity for personal gain. As stark as this contrast may be, it leads to the final question we all must ask ourselves: which one am I? More importantly, which one do my actions most closely reflect?

Without actionable data of our industry within our borders, leaders indifferent to the claims of racial disparities doubt its prevalence without evidence. Let us then consider the data captured by the IIDA which reports that out of 87,000 practitioners, 69 per cent are women, who account for 25 per cent of design leadership positions.

When considering ethnicity, the numbers are bleaker: only two per cent of newly licensed practitioners are people of colour.

Ian Rolston is a creative strategist, design leader, speaker, mentor and the creator of Decanthropy, an inclusive

Let us also consider the lack of diversity within the ranks of our country’s professional associations. Leaders like Trevor Kruse, the newly installed president of Interior Designers of Canada

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design methodology that transforms businesses, people and places to connect them to what matters most. www.decanthropy.com

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Photo by David Street

over & out

Janis Kravis 1933-2020

This visionary believed a strong creative community should be built on shared ideas.

By Karen R. White

Minden on an award-winning restaurant concept for the basement of Toronto’s Windsor Arms Hotel in 1966. “Three Small Rooms was instantly one of the most glamorous and successful Toronto restaurants,” wrote Architecture Professor Emeritus George Baird in an essay for the 2017 exhibition True Nordic: How Scandinavia influenced Design in Canada. “Kravis designed the rich interiors of brick, wood and copper and much of the restaurant’s furniture. Elegant and intimate, the three differently styled rooms and their discrete food offerings presented a distinctly northern and cosmopolitan sensibility.”

Born in Latvia, Kravis arrived in Canada with his family via Sweden in 1950 as a World War II refugee. Having learned to construct houses with his master-builder father, Kravis went on to study architecture at the University of Toronto at a time when the community was energized by an international design competition for Toronto’s new City Hall. Graduating in 1959, Kravis worked in the offices of John B. Parkin where he befriended designers from Finland who had gathered in Toronto to construct Viljo Revell’s winning proposal.

These personal connections, along with Kravis’s research and travels to Finland, cemented his affinity for Scandinavian design.

Throughout his 60-year career, Kravis created interiors and furniture designs that were simple and beautiful. His work for commercial, corporate, and hospitality clients was characterized by spatial ingenuity, crafted millwork, colourful textiles, and detailed ceilings designed to activate the interior volume, either with suspended space frames, intricately layered grids, milled wood battens, or innovative lighting. His furniture designs featured collaborations with local specialists such as Garry Sonnenberg of Craftwood Industries and Ed Keilhauer.

Kravis’s enthusiasm for the products of companies such as Marimekko, Artek, Haimi, Muurame, Arabia, and Iittala led him to found Karelia Studios as a retail venture in 1959. Housed in a sequence of iconic Toronto locations from 1960 until 1979, plus brief expansions to Vancouver and Edmonton, Karelia Studios introduced an eager Canadian clientele to housewares and textiles from Scandinavia. Janis and his wife Helga often developed close friendships with the product designers, frequently hosting visitors to their Toronto home.

The creative, colourful store soon became a fixture for the local architecture and design communities.

After establishing his own architecture and design practice in 1963, Kravis worked on many notable projects, such as with hotelier George CANADIAN INTERIORS 9/10 2020

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His friendships with design leaders, especially Marimekko’s founder, Armi Ratia, had lasting influence. Later in life, Kravis continued to explore design’s connections by focusing on nature and biophilia, becoming LEED A/P certified. In 2017, aiming to share his vision, he established an online memoir and portfolio at www.karelia.ca

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