Canadian Interiors September October 2017 by IQ Business Media

CANADIAN INTERIORS

CDN $6.95 SEPTEMBER OCTOBER 2017

September October 2017

Factory Settings New work in old spaces

bets from Chicago + Best and Singapore

www.canadianinteriors.com

Earth laid bare.

off the grid collection

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METAL COMPOSITE MATERIALS

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ACOUSTICS FOR THE LOOK YOU WANT

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09/102017 Features

39 SEEING IS BELIEVING Virtual reality is cementing its presence in architecture and design by using digital visualization to create a new spatial experience. By Evan Pavka

45 THE PRESENT THROUGH A REAR-VIEW MIRROR The relationship between craft and technology becomes a common thread in the reason century-old brick and beam industrial buildings are appropriated by creative and tech agencies. By Rhys Phillips

53 DAYCARE FOR MILLENNIALS? “Not your father’s office” is more than an

understatement for a growing crop of office environments where the mandate is to “stimulate creativity and improve worker engagement.” By Kristina Ljubanovic

67 THE BEST OF THE BEST OF CANADA 20 years and 419 winners later, Canadian Interiors’ Best of Canada Awards is still showing off the best interior and product design that Canada has to offer. By David Lasker

Regulars

21 CAUGHT OUR EYE 25 SEEN Highlights and insights from IFFS 2017 in Singapore, and NeoCon in Chicago. 34 THE GOODS A new crop of outdoor products 74 SCENE 78 OVER & OUT Infinite life for Gensler’s award-winning exhibit. COVER –To reinforce the Slack brand, “threads of communication” is a dominant physical theme, for example in angular lighting fixtures that appear to thread through workspaces and meeting rooms at distinct angles. Photo by Shai Gil

9/10 2017 CANADIAN INTERIORS

INSPIRING SPACES

for new ways of working.

Haworth.com

com

Next time in

Give Awesomely! Oh the weather outside may be frightful, but our annual collection of holiday gift ideas is delightful!

Porsche 911 The one-millionth Porsche 911 has rolled off the production line, and this design icon hasn’t changed much since the original from 1963.

Camden Inside Studio designs new office space in Montréal’s trendy Mile-End borough to reflect the vibrant energy coming out of a marketing firm’s rebranding.

Voices.com IN Design Associates designs a new 44,000-sq.-ft. office space for Voices.com, the largest single floor office in London, Ontario.

Somerville Residence naturehumaine renovates a 1970s row house for a couple with two young children.

Pick up the next issue of

to see our roundup!

9/10 2017 CANADIAN INTERIORS

September | October 2017 / V54 #5

Senior Publisher

Martin Spreer

416-441-2085 x108 Editor

Peter Sobchak Art Director

Roy Gaiot

Associate Editors

David Lasker, Rhys Phillips, Leslie C. Smith Contributors

Enrico G. Cleva, Sara Viarengo Cleva, Kristina Ljubanovic, Evan Pavka, Michael Totzke 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. Subscription rates > Canada $38.95 per year (plus taxes) U.S.A. $71.95 US per year, Overseas $98.95 US per year.

Back issues > Back copies are available for $10 for delivery in Canada, $15 US for delivery in U.S.A. and $20 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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CREATE A SPACE FIT FOR EVERY CULTURE

inside

Choose Values Although I don’t typically do this, while putting this issue together I came across a blog post by Blake Zalcberg, president of OFM, an office and school furniture manufacturer headquartered in North Carolina that was so apropos I thought I should share it. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -“A large-sized company recently asked me to help them pick some trendy new office furniture that would attract millennial workers. If only it were that easy. As the head of a family-run furniture manufacturer and distributor, it would be great for my business if everyone had to go buy all new desks and chairs every few years to attract the next generation of workers. But the truth is that a company’s culture and values matter more than its office design when it comes to recruiting a new, younger workforce. Some cool new pieces of furniture may help with first impressions during an interview, but they aren’t going to make a difference on their own. That’s not to say that office design doesn’t matter. It does. But it matters because of what it reflects about things your business is already doing. In other words, it’s an effect, not a cause. - - - - - - - -

Here’s how to think of it: office furniture is a manifestation of your company values. It’s how you send a message to your internal customers—your employees—about how the company works and what it thinks is important. All the decisions you make as you design an office both shape and reflect those values: Open office or traditional cubicles? Big corner offices for management or similar workspaces for everyone? Lots of glass and metal or mostly leather and walnut finishes? Those simple decisions will shape how your workers approach their job, but they can’t be made in a vacuum. If you want to attract a more forward-thinking workforce, you need to understand their values and make sure your company aligns with them. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -So what are those values? Surveys show millennial workers want a workplace that aligns with their personal values, one that works to make the world a better place rather than simply pursuing a narrow agenda of making a profit. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -The other problem with this request for new furniture was that it was aimed at attracting millennials, assuming that group is interchangeable with forwardthinking workers. But creative and innovative employees come in every generation, and you’re going to need all of them if you want to move your business forward. An office full of super-creative junior staffers who are supervised by traditionalist managers is a recipe for frustration and high turnover. If you want to turn your business around, innovate more and attract more creative workers, start by looking at your business model, your office culture and your hiring practices. Your furniture choices will follow naturally from there.” - - •

18 Peter Sobchak

psobchak@canadianinteriors.com

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caught our eye

Walk Through Returning for its fourth edition, Passages Insolites (Unusual Passages) is back in downtown QuĂŠbec City until October 15. Nine groups of artists/architects explore the idea of passageways, for example Les Malcommodesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Impostor, which passes through the Royal Battery, a landmark recently rediscovered and rebuilt after being dug out of a parking lot. www.exmuro.com

9/10 2017 CANADIAN INTERIORS

caught our eye

Hands of Time The Canadian History Museum Ottawa tapped Montréal-based GSM Project to redesign the Canadian History Hall, one of the major permanent exhibitions of the museum. In collaboration with Douglas Cardinal, the lead architect who initially designed the Museum, the 40,000-sq.-ft. gallery was remodeled to offer visitors a more contemporary visual and spatial experience, and opened on July 1, in time for the Canada 150 celebrations. www.gsmproject.com

Spice of Life Alessi can always be relied upon to help elevate our staid home environments with clever and refreshing bits of whimsy. This year’s Fall/Winter Collection features new designs from collaborators such as Valerio Sommella, Federico Grazzini and Will Alsop that employ small, surprising details to elevate and rethink a classic product’s functionality, such as the Grind salt and pepper mill by Alsop and Grazzini.

Bright Idea Japanese design wunderkind Nendo has devised a brilliantly simple flashlight, made using AgIC technology that prints electronic circuit boards using silver particle ink onto films, cloth, and in this case Yupo paper, commonly used in ballot paper for elections. Here, light becomes dimmer when the paper is rolled loosely and brighter when rolled tightly. Not only that, because the LEDs change colour when touching paper, when wrapped with LEDs facing out the light turns warm orange; when rolled inside, the light turns white. www.nendo.jp

CANADIAN INTERIORS 9/10 2017

www.alessi.com

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seen RE.INC | The Rug Republic India “Reduce. Recycle. Reinvent and be creative while saving the planet. A reincarnation of a vast variety of post primary use materials, these are as vibrant and lively as the concept, not to mention exceptional value and environment friendship”. www.therugrepublic.in

Asian Flair

IFFS is both leading and collecting work from a vibrant design community growing in the Southeast Asian region. By Enrico G. Cleva & Sara Viarengo Cleva Singapore, a city-state nestled in the geographic and economic epicentre of Southeast Asia, is one of the wealthiest and more organized locations in this part of the world, and as such has become a strategic market for high-end products in Asia. Which is why the International Furniture Fair of Singapore (IFFS) has emerged as one of the best trade shows in the region to see original southeast Asian high-end design, and a preferred platform for western manufacturers to approach this part of the globe. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Gathering forward-thinking design-oriented exhibitors from Japan, China and the Philippines to growing design countries like Thailand and Vietnam, IFFS has seen an important transformation in the past few years, shifting from a commercial-tradefurniture show for international buyers, mostly in the mass market, to a design event, suitable to a public that looks for the best regional and international design, not visible anywhere else. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - •

Shelf Mate | d-Bodhi Singapore, The Netherlands Bodhi, Sanskrit for “awakening,” is also the term Buddhists use to express “enlightenment” or “the call to think beyond the ordinary.” The “d” in front stands for design: put both of them together and d-Bodhi can be translated to mean “enlightening design.” Shelf Mate is a system of five variously sized shelving units, handcrafted out of reclaimed teak. Shelf Mate is also wordplay on “self-made,” since you will have to assemble and hang it yourself. www.d-bodhi.com

9/10 2017 CANADIAN INTERIORS

seen

1 Lamps | Touchable Thailand Is this a lamp or a flower? It’s both! The petals of the lamp come in two different shapes made by a very thin sheet of timber, creating natural yet warm and cozy lighting effects. www.touchablebangkok.com

4 Ritorto | a.garcia Philippines The Ritorto line of seating and tables doesn’t shy away from the regional design vocabulary of its predecessors. In fact it embraces it, just with a new twist. This is traditional rattan furniture but rendered in a different material: steel. www.agarciacrafts.com

2 Dualtone | Commune Singapore Dualtone is a range of living, dining and bedroom products specially designed to highlight the best qualities of two timbers: bright oak and dark walnut. Set in mid-century flavours and topped off with tinges of pale brass-coloured stainless steel, the collections are designed with the intent of minimizing waste, with wood sourced from sustainably-managed forests and lacquers and coatings with low lead content. www.thecommunelife.com 3 JinGoo | Daqiconcept Taiwan By bringing together an ambient light and a Bluetooth speaker, JinGoo is the perfect blend of Eastern aesthetics and superb sound quality. JinGoo features a mono two-way speaker, the low frequency woofer positioned in the base structure and its sound waves reflected by the ceramic tail of the bird. A wide stereo effect is created with the sound waves from the tweeter located in the bird’s body. www.daqiconcept.com CANADIAN INTERIORS 9/10 2017

5 Sydney chair | Harbour Australia This collection reimagines in equal parts nostalgia and high-end Sydney style. Straight linear lines paired with mixed materials offer a signature look reminiscent of home. The stainless steel frame is available in polished or PVD brass finish. The South American leather sling is reinforced with canvas army duck fabric. www.harbouroutdoor.com

6 Pumpkin | Deesawat Thailand Pumpkin is part of a collection of outdoor lifestyle seating in which Deesawat has been working with Zero First design and Sarran Youkongdee, with textiles by Jim Thompson, known as one of the best fabric manufacturers in Thailand. The Pumpkin bench is inspired by a traditional Thai cushion. www.deesawat.com

space. We love the historic touch when we work with this material and the craftsmanship process. We try to capture the classic colonial interior and reinterpret it in new contemporary lifestyle,” says Atelier 2+, the design outfit behind the collection. www.podium.co.th

7 Tie bench | Deesawat Thailand Founded in 1972, Deesawat is one of the leaders of a thriving wood industry in Thailand, with furniture that brings strong esthetic as well as narrative qualities. For example the Tie bench, with Braille message in relief on the back promoting blind people to stay with others and share their experiences. It says “If you sit alone, try to move to the side, and leave some space for the people to share with you.” www.deesawat.com

10 Nathan Yong Collection | Ipse Ipsa Ipsum Singapore, India Designed in collaboration with renowned local designer Nathan Yong, the eponymous collection is the first of Ipse Ipsa Ipsum’s line of co-authored collections that features a wide range of furniture and lifestyle accessories. The customers can select from multiple variations of a sofa by choosing different components such as an additional lamp or mirror, or white or grey leather hides to adorn the hand-forged sofa. www.ipseipsaipsum.com

8 Ojami | Takaokaya Japan The Ojami is an original cushion developed by Takaokaya over the last decade. The unique shape is inspired by the ancient Japanese beanbag toy called tedama or ojami in Kyoto dialect. Takaokaya’s funky, modern take is filled with azuki beans, handcrafted by skilled Kyoto artisans, and comes in a variety of colours, fabric coverings, fillings and sizes. The geometric shape is amazingly comfortable and is designed for posture support and correction.

11 SAN collection | Manutti Belgium An iconic and sculptural piece designed by Lionel Doyen for true design aficionados, SAN’s natural lines in exotic Iroko wood are supported by refined materials such as powder-coated aluminum and marble. Sublimating the outdoor experience, the collection boasts a unique set of possible set-ups, from bench to lounger and sofa or two-seater. www.manutti.com

www.takaoka-kyoto.jp

9 Cane collection | Podium Thailand Caning, a method of surface weaving used for furniture, is derived from the peeled bark of the rattan stalk commonly found in Southeast Asia. “The caned furniture has a unique quality that gives warm and timeless texture to the interior

9/10 2017 CANADIAN INTERIORS

OFFICE FURNITURE

Showrooms Québec/Montréal/Toronto/Calgary 1 800 363 3040 artopex.com

seen

Butterfly Lounge | Trendway The Lounge and Butterfly Colors Collection, designed by Niels Gammelgaard, are new additions to the existing Butterfly product line. Inspired by his Danish design origins, the Butterfly Lounge Chair is a low-height seat with extra cushioning and relaxed seating angles whose generous width make it a welcome addition to waiting and lobby areas. www.trendway.com YouToo | Allseating The YouToo collection calls upon an innovative back suspension system and a ratchet back height adjustment knob to articulate the custom capabilities the collectionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s name suggests. www.allseating.com

Compiled by

Peter Sobchak

Off to Work We Go!

The Merchandise Mart in Chicago (or now, simply, the Mart) is massive. But when 50,000 architects and designers pack its halls in early June for NeoCon to discover new products and prototypes transforming commercial design, the beautiful Art Deco building gets claustrophobically small and almost impassable. Which is why industry insiders and show veterans typically stick to a few floors, and for interior designers, floors three, seven, 10 and 11 (and emerging showrooms across the street in 325 N. Wells Street) are where all the good stuff is.

9/10 2017 CANADIAN INTERIORS

V Chair | MU Form MU Form made its NeoCon debut with original designs for commercial and residential spaces. With pieces such as the Fortune Stool already in permanent museum collections, MU Form continued the same attitude in their showroom by displaying products such as the V Chair like art, with each piece on its own LED-lit pedestal. www.muform.com

7th FLOOR

SQAPE | Maars Living Walls The Netherlands-based partition walls manufacturer had a couple hits at the show, including SQAPE, a steel concept wall that addresses the increasing demand for privacy in open-office spaces. Appearing as one fluid surface, elements such as door-handles are innovatively integrated in the construction, and there is no doorframe or visible hinges because of pivot construction. www.maarslivingwalls.com

F4 | Stylex The F4 chair, designed by Toronto-based Fig40 for New Jersey-based Stylex, is intriguing due to limited adjustment abilities and a very specific range of motion enabled through the primary design gesture of the yoke the chair sits on. Informed by the low profile suspension used by Corvettes since the 1960s, the mechanism contained within its side rails, leaves the seat area open below creating a very comfortable sit. www.stylexseating.com

3rd FLOOR

CANADIAN INTERIORS 9/10 2017

Luno | Keilhauer The love affair between Toronto-based Keilhauer and Austrian trio EOOS continues with the Luno lounge chair, the story behind which is interesting: rather than starting the design process with a three dimensional object, the chair was created using only two-dimensional cut pieces, which were then folded together to create volume and shape from tension. www.keilhauer.com

seen

Shade | Chilewich Chilewich Contract’s new line launched at NeoCon, called Shade, is a flat and tight twill weave that features a unique rotation of signature bi-colour yarns which create a subtle ombré effect in the warp. The bi-colour yarns share one common colour which helps to produce an understated yet expressive shift in colour throughout the textile. www.chilewichcontract.com Edge Desk The Edge Desk System is an all-in-one desk, chair and easel. Arriving fully assembled in the box, The Edge Desk purports to be the first-ever kneeling desk that can be set up in less than a minute with no tools, and just as quickly folded and stowed away. Users can work in “Landscape” mode like a traditional desk or convert into “Portrait” and use as an artist’s easel. www.theedgedesk.com

TextureMap | Tarkett Tarkett has piled all of its brands into one new giant showroom space, including Johnsonite, Desso, Benyon, Renner, FieldTurf, and Tarkett Sports. Prominently displayed was the new TextureMap and ColorMap collaboration between Tandus Centiva and Jhane Barnes. Here, a grid, labyrinth, and systematic arrangement of square patterns are arranged using math and science to dictate the overall rhythm. www.tarkettna.com Scribble | Nienkämper Toronto-based II BY IV Design turned an unassuming black and white sketch of a single continuous looping line into the Scribble table, the first piece created by their firm’s product studio. Partnering with ICF Group/Nienkämper, that original round coffee table has evolved into several iterations and a variety of glass tops and coloured bases. www.nienkamper.com

9/10 2017 CANADIAN INTERIORS

Ruckus | KI KI has been doing some neat things in the educational sector lately, and showed more of that at NeoCon this year with the launch of the Ruckus Collection. Here, innovative seating, cantilevered desks, and super-functional lockers, cubbies, and bookcases are all based on a model of mobility, which studies are showing is essential to cognitive development and learning. www.ki.com

11th FLOOR

Solis | Koleksiyon It is always a pleasure to see what Koleksiyon has cooked up for NeoCon. This year, launches included the Calder, Boccaporto, Solis, and Poema collections. Designed by Metrica, Boccaporto is a combined seating and working unit developed for open offices and public areas, while Solis (shown), by Studio Kairos, cleverly nests seating elements together in a way that looks precarious yet is surprisingly comfortable. www.koleksiyon.us

Outskirts | Bentley The three styles grouped under the Outskirts Collection moniker all carry names and patterns that attempt to graphically represent the ongoing collision of realities in design: Outlier, with metallic lines and harsh geometries; Ritual (right), with broken lines resembling branches; and Coexist (left), with no specific linear direction and an all-over-the-place visual style that perfectly sums up our current zeitgeist. www.bentleymills.com Summit Lounge | Integra When space is at a premium, less really is more. Integra acknowledges this with the Summit Lounge series, whose notable characteristic is an inherently smaller footprint, making the chairs well-proportioned for healthcare waiting areas or other commercial spaces that desire a comfortable lounge look and feel, but which have space constraints. www.integraseating.com

10th FLOOR

CANADIAN INTERIORS 9/10 2017

Form + Finish | J+J Flooring Group The historic Pewabic pottery studio in Detroit, Mich., provided the inspiration for J+Jâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s newest collection. Somehow, the design team found a way to translate design cues such as texture, luster and pattern normally unique to pottery and glazing onto flooring carpets. The results are bold and intriguing, and work well in commercial spaces housed in reclaimed industrial environs.Â www.engineeredfloorsllc.com

seen

Loft | Pallas Textiles At the show Pallas Textiles debuted the Mid Century Mood Collection, Ineffable Collection, and Loft Collection, the latter of which is the coolest: this is a fabric that reveals, not conceals, building materials, giving industrial interior design aesthetics an urban edge. www.pallastextiles.com

Hardi | Spec Spec Furniture is known for its Behavioral Health products for supervised and semi-supervised areas. Joining the Dignity Series and other heavy duty seating solutions, Hardi brings a completely new look, feel and construction. Made from rotationally molded polyethylene, the extremely robust one-piece chair is virtually indestructible and a breeze to clean. www.specfurniture.com

BuzziPleat | BuzziSpace While they didn’t have anything as radical as last year’s jungle gym, BuzziSpace is still doing clever things in the sound baffling sector, and launched several new solutions at NeoCon, including the BuzziPleat. Designed by 13&9, the decorative piece can be used purely as an acoustic solution on a wall or a hanging ceiling pendant, with or without an optional lighting element. www.buzzi.space Grid | Brentano This new contract textiles collection includes Piet and Theo, two names recognizable to anyone familiar with the De Stijl movement, which is where the inspiration came from for these textiles. Named after Piet Mondrian and Theo van Doesburg, the Grid carries rectilinear minimalist motifs in predominately neutral colourways. www.brentanofabrics.com River Snake | Sandler Seating Got a massive public space you don’t know what to do with? Mac Stopa can help you with his River Snake modular stool system. Manufactured from soft polyurethane and reinforced with a steel internal sub-frame, it is also weatherproof and flame retardant, making it a titillating solution for large indoor or outdoor spaces. www.sandlerseating.com

9/10 2017 CANADIAN INTERIORS

CANADIAN INTERIORS 0/0 2017

the goods

1 Trinity Hammocks | Duality With a focus on design, comfort and durability, Trinity’s new Duality hammock combines the curved form of a hanging chair with the support of a stainless steel structure. Marine-grade teak seating, a Sunbrella fabric mattress, and pillows stuffed with Urecel quickdry foam provide relaxation while ensuring longevity in a variety of outdoor conditions. www.trinityhammocks.com 2 SONNEMAN | InsideOut Designer Robert Sonneman’s new InsideOut LED lighting collection for SONNEMAN is ideal for intimate outdoor spaces. Featuring decorative sconces that showcase sculptural or geometric designs, the dimmable lights cast a soft glow against the dark night sky. Choose from crisp-edged aluminum fixtures, etched glass panels, smooth curved forms and more.

www.sonnemanawayoflight.com

3 Landscape Forms | GO Intended to bring the office outdoors, the GO table by Landscape Forms allows individuals to plug in and work at a long station with an optional canopy. Available in both hardwired and solar versions, the GO table contains two small power garages that are hidden from sight, and power/cable boxes that are engineered to close automatically when a device is plugged in, making them weather and corrosion resistant. www.landscapeforms.com

Out with the New A new crop of outdoor products — from curvy lounge chairs to textured patio pavers — is transforming private backyards and public landscapes into enviable and stylish oases. By Shannon Moore

4 GAN | Garden Layers Inspired by the architecture, gardens and terraces of India, the Garden Layers collection by Patricia Urquiola for GAN seeks to bring creativity and imagination to the outdoors. Consisting of rugs, mats, roll pillows and cushions in weather resistant yarns and quick-dry foams, the collection — available in terracotta, grey and blue — provides endless options for simple relaxation. www.gan-rugs.com 5 Moroso | Tent Inspired by the shape and structure of a tent, these chairs, designed by Benjamin Hubert for Moroso, are crafted from a single piece of recycled nylon 3D-knitted and stretched over a steel frame. Available in a variety of colours, the chairs showcase an innovative and intelligent use of digital knitting technology that minimizes waste and enhances style. www.moroso.com 6 Louis Poulsen | Flindt Bollard Inspired by carpentry and the way in which wood is cut with a knife, the Flindt Bollard light — designed by Christian Flindt for Louis Poulsen — is ideal for both natural and industrial outdoor settings. The slender, vertical fixture contains two LED light sources that are directed downward to create a subtle, glare-free glow. Available in two different sizes and finishes, the slender fixture is at once subtle and superb. www.louispoulsen.com

0/0 2017 CANADIAN INTERIORS

CANADIAN INTERIORS 0/0 2017

the goods

1 Point | Weave Inspired by Baya Weaver birds who weave and knot every fibre of their nests in a precise and meticulous way, Point’s new Weave collection blends modular-formed tables, armchairs and sofas with high-resistance cushions and country style weaved frames. Available in cream nougat or taupe rope with grey, cream or dark fabric pairings, the line is both classic and contemporary — making it ideal for a variety of outdoor spaces. www.point1920.com 2 Kartell | Pop Designed by Piero Lissoni with Carlo Tamborini, Kartell’s modular outdoor sofa, dubbed Pop, consists of identical, polycarbonate single seat modules that can be placed side by side to create custom, solid frames. Filled with goose feathers and available in a variety of colours — including white, black, orange, green and grey — the Pop sofa is UV resistant and water and oil repellent, making it ideal for backyard spaces. www.kartell.com 3 EMU | Cool-là Part rocking chair, part hideaway, Cool-là by Chiaramonte/Marin Studio for EMU boasts a strong and unique visual impact. The swinging sofa, designed to resemble a cocoon, offers shade from the sun and comfort through an oversized padded cushion. A stainless steel structure and footrest guarantee stability and endurance in all weather conditions. www.emu.it

4 Magis | Folly Designed by Ron Arad for Magis, the Folly bench is characterized by its flowing, wave-length form. Equally artistic and functional, the bench is made of rotational-moulded polyethylene, resistant to all physical and environmental stresses. Its comfortable shape makes it suitable for lounging in a private backyard, or in a public park or garden. www.magisdesign.com 5 Extremis | Virus The Virus picnic table, designed by Dirk Wynants for the Belgian furniture brand Extremis, seeks to bring people together comfortably in small, compact spaces. Ideal for outdoor terraces and urban gardens, the table is available in different sizes based on an identical seating frame, accommodating two to five people. Available in blue, black, white, grey, green, red and tan, the table is constructed using zinc structured powder-coated steel, ensuring both solidity and style. www.extremis.com 6 Royal Botania | Nara Royal Botania’s new Black Series label invites outdoor lighting and furniture specialists to design special collections in limited numbers. Nara — the first collection in the series by French landscape designer Louis Benech — presents eight furniture pieces handmade with teak. In addition to a sofa, armchair, lounger, bench and side table, the collection features a ceramic-topped dining table that showcases the modularity and elegance of the collection, as well as the strength and rigidity of the material itself. www.royalbotania.com 7 Ciot | XRock With a full program of porcelain tiles and stone pavers designed specifically for outdoor use, Ciot helps to establish the background patio as an effortless extension of the home. The company’s XRock collection is especially interesting, offering ceramic tiles that mimic textured stone. Available in both light and dark finishes, the tiles stand out against the grass while still respecting and blending into their natural surroundings. www.ciot.com

0/0 2017 CANADIAN INTERIORS

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Seeing is Believing By Evan Pavka

Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality has been a staple in interactive gaming since the early 1990s. However, only recently has the technology begun to penetrate the design industry. In spring 2016, design giant IKEA launched its Virtual Reality Kitchen, a consumer experience enabling users wearing headsets and hand-held controllers to interact with products, open drawers, flip through a virtual catalogue and even cook the company’s iconic Swedish meatballs. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - While Google’s TiltBrush, also released in spring 2016, offers a unique way for artists to move between two and three dimensional environments — “painting”

Virtual reality is cementing its presence in architecture and design by using digital visualization to create a new spatial experience.

in 360 degrees with an almost infinite depth — VR technologies are providing powerful ways for designers and consumers to engage, develop and experience the built environment beyond brick, stone and board. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Toronto-based architectural visualization studio Norm Li has been working with virtual reality for the last five years, specifically targeting architects, interior designers, brokers and developers. 9/10 2017 CANADIAN INTERIORS

At NeoCon 2017, Sweden-based Configura launched the CET Designer 8.0 and its ability to create 360-degree panoramic rendering, for example a space showcasing Steelcase (above left) and Haworth (left) products. Above Visitors to Configura’s booth were able to demo the CET Designer Virtual Viewer wearing an Oculus Rift headset and using gaming controls.

Li’s VR platform can be viewed and used on any device with access to Wi-Fi — laptop, tablet and even your smartphone as well as VR headsets like GearVR and Oculus Rift — to allow users to virtually explore digital models of unbuilt developments at home and abroad. From recent implementations for Dream’s Brighton Community in Saskatoon to a web-based virtual model of Streetcar Development’s Broadview Hotel in Toronto’s Leslieville neighbourhood, showcasing detailed surface and lighting treatments, the VR platform connects the architectural experience to the increasingly technology enmeshed consumer. -------------------------------------------------The mobility and affordability of these VR technologies may provide new ways to interact with future buildings — from pop-up installations to direct engagement with buyers — apart from the all-too-common presentation centre. “We want to bring that same experience into the development industry,” says Kimberly Valmeo, director of marketing at Norm Li. “Whether it’s picking the finishes of your future home or seeing your soon-to-be office space come to life, our VR platform allows the masses to experience their future space in the easiest and most immersive way possible.” - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Kitchen sink, faucet and accessory manufacturer Blanco also sees virtual reality as a tool to transform how design is marketed through their augmented showroom experience. Unveiled at the international kitchen fair in Cologne in early 2017, visitors were able to experience an entirely virtual kitchen populated with the company’s latest products while exploring the design of sink and mixer taps, virtually interacting with the specially created presentation island. - - - CANADIAN INTERIORS 9/10 2017

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Alongside displaying products, the company believes that their virtual showroom is only a small component of VR’s potential use for designers. “Blanco is also convinced that kitchen planners will find virtual reality is the perfect additional tool, for instance, for demonstrating to customers the benefits of a particular plan even more impressively in a way that goes beyond the classic display,” says the company’s press team. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Stephen Fai, associate professor at Carleton University’s Azrieli School of Architecture and director of the Carleton Immersive Media Studio (CIMS), considers the implementation of VR technologies as a way to engage architectural history in new and immersive manners. Fai recently led a team of students in developing a virtual tour of the Senate foyer, antechamber and chamber at the historic Parliament Buildings in Ottawa. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Officially unveiled on March 1, 2017 and accessible to anyone with an internet connection, the tour consists of a series of 360-degree 3D animations produced from photographs, laser scans and photogrammetry taken over the course of multiple site visits. Also included in the tour are “hotspots” for further reading or listening on the architectural substructure, elements, sculptures and furniture included within the virtual model. As virtual reality renderings become more commonplace in design schools, CIMS’ illusory building is only a taste of how these technologies may intersect with architecture, education, public art and history. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - irtual reality softwares are poised to redefine how designers conceptualize and execute their projects. As the Swedish company Configura has shown in a recent collaboration with Toronto-based VR platform Yulio, virtual reality applications can enable designers and clients to problem solve in real time, before any foundations are laid. “Designers and their clients are using VR to predict design errors before a project actually begins construction, making for a much smoother construction phase,” explains Nicklas Dagersten, Configura’s Chief Product Officer. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Configura’s collaboration with Yulio builds on their recently released CET Designer 8.0 — a program that provides the ability to generate 360-degree walk-through videos — which also includes developments to their Virtual Viewer VR Extension. The extension allows users to immerse themselves in virtual environments using affordable VR headsets (Google Cardboard and Homido MINI) as well as Wi-Fi connected devices. These programs provide designers the capacity to generate digital models, walk clients through designs and collaborate by making critical design decisions more efficiently than before. Additional advances in both virtual and augmented reality may allow these digital models to be projected onto physical sites, enmeshing the physical and virtual, further streamlining complex construction processes. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - What might happen if these technologies were used to not only simulate spaces, but their emotive qualities too? Melbourne-based Liminal VR and Liminal 360 CEO Damian Moratti, who delivered a lecture on VR technologies at IIDEX 2016 in Toronto, works at the intersection of

The real and virtual Norm Li

By Michael Totzke Norm Li creates renderings, animation and interactive experiences for the real estate development and design industries. With strong architectural backgrounds and design sensibilities, the team provides visual clarity at all stages for a project, from schematic designs to marketing campaigns. Norm Li has amassed an impressive roster of clients, from Cadillac Fairview, EllisDon and Holt Renfrew to McDonald’s, Roots Canada and Virgin Mobile; from Diamond Schmitt Architects, KPMB Architects and Perkins+Will to II BY IV Design, Quadrangle and Yabu Pusheberg. Canadian Interiors: How did you get started in the field? Norm Li: I attended the University of Waterloo for Architecture, but decided along the way that I didn’t want to practise. I quit four months before graduating. I wound up creating renderings for a firm and then worked for five years on my own. These were the days of the artistic renaissance of building in Toronto and also early days for the resurgence of rendering. I did a tremendous amount of work for big firms. In 2005, I hired my first employee as I wasn’t getting any sleep. CI: And now? NL: I have a staff of 35. The studio is now the biggest outfit of its kind in Canada. CI: When did Virtual Reality become a large component of what you do? NL: We’ve been dealing with Virtual Reality on and off for five years, but it has really taken off over the last nine months. Now it’s more viable and no longer prohibitively expensive. What every designer wants is quick, good and cheap. We show our clients that VR is very accessible and easy to use. It costs less than $1,000 to get started. Our system is built so you don’t need goggles: you can view on screen or on a smartphone.

CI: How does VR differ from rendering? NL: We still do the rendering and then translate it to VR. You can commission VR as easily as you can a rendering. We don’t want people to have to jump through hoops to get here. For a long time, 9/10 2017 CANADIAN INTERIORS

most VR players came from gaming or coding backgrounds, but a gaming-based approach doesn’t work with architecture and design. We take a design-based approach, extending what we’ve always done. CI: Do you find there’s some panic in the industry to get on board with VR? NL: No, not really. But there definitely is a sense with clients of not wanting to miss the boat. CI: Things are moving faster and faster with technology. NL: Yes. Current VR will have a life of 24 months; then a new iteration will come along. CI: What do you think of self-design apps? NL: I don’t believe in apps any more. An app has to be really special. [laughs] Of course, to view anything in 3D, you do need an app. CI: Will VR eventually make 2D obsolete? NL: I don’t think so. People have been predicting the demise of 2D — and print — for a long time now. The nice thing about what we do is that 2D renderings are put first. And the area of rending is a growing field: there were only four firms in Toronto when we started and now they’re everywhere. Of course, VR is on the rise for all of us. It’s coming: it’s going to be the thing. CI: Will VR change the way architects and designers work? NL: Completely. Think of it this way: architects and designers envision something in the mind, but the physical resolution of the thought – the actual building – can wind up being completely different. But with VR, the designer or architect is in the space, so there’s no excuse for not understanding the eventual result. CI: How does Virtual Reality benefit the real estate developer? NL: It’s a huge benefit. Why spend a million and half on a presentation centre when with VR you can take your project right to the buyer? Or create a pop-up in an empty storefront? It’s all about mobility. CI: What’s next for you and the studio? NL: We’re about visual communication. We don’t want to limit ourselves. But we’re happy to stay within what we know and to keep evolving.

Above Configura’s recent collaboration with Toronto-based Yulio “democratizes” VR through the use of inexpensive 3D headsets such as Google Cardboard.

virtual reality and neuroscience to generate experiences that not only augment reality, but emotional states as well. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - While creating photorealistic virtual reality projects for developers, community engagements, historical recreations and even brand activations, Liminal 360 has also developed empathic experiences intended to alleviate loneliness and anxiety for long-term patients in hospitals. “VR is a medium that affords us the ability to control every aspect of our environment and create experiences that allow us to choose how we feel,” Moratti says. “We’re developing experiences that activate emotional and cognitive states.” - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Whether re-imaging how buildings and furnishings are marketed, architectural history is experienced, problems are handled during the design process and on-site or the optimal emotional impact of a place is achieved, these practices engaging virtual reality software only scratch the surface of the technology’s potential reach as a communication tool for the architecture and design industries. “I can see some point in the future where designers will work in a headset to actually design,” says Norm Li. “It’s the way of the future.” - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - • CANADIAN INTERIORS 9/10 2017

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Steve Clifford

The relationship between craft and technology becomes a common thread in the reason centuryold brick and beam industrial buildings are quickly appropriated by creative and tech agencies. Above The Innovation Centre at Bayview Yards is the first entrepreneurial hub of its kind in the Ottawa Region.

By Rhys Phillips

Perhaps Marshall McLuhan’s second most famous — but equally prophetic — aphorism is “We look at the present through a rear-view mirror. We march backwards into the future.” It is wisdom most economists and politicians ignore despite the implications of the digital, demographic and third industrial revolutions underway. An intriguing cultural application asks the question: why do hi-tech firms frequently gravitate to historic industrial buildings? For example, Apple’s bizarre new silver donut notwithstanding, Waterloo Region has seen its vibrant tech sector clustering in Kitchener’s old downtown industrial enclave, including Google’s new Canadian headquarters. Three recent projects, two in Toronto and one in Ottawa, suggest that while the reasons for this preference may vary, sustaining a connection with and celebration of the history of craft is a narrative that links all three. - -

9/10 2017 CANADIAN INTERIORS

Shai Gil

Above As an allusion to both the messaging app and the lines of yarn manufactured in the building, a â&#x20AC;&#x153;threadâ&#x20AC;? motif manifests in the reception area as strips of industrial felt clad the wall and ceiling in continuous diagonal lines, and networking cables in bold colours run across ceilings and walls to emphasize the length of each floor.

CANADIAN INTERIORS 9/10 2017

Left Openings are carved out of the solid core and accented with pops of colour. Right Peg boards created by local artisan Atelier Kozak act as feature walls where workplace slogans or witty remarks can be posted.

Slack

Slack is a multinational, San Francisco-based firm that offers a communication “ecosystem” of over a thousand apps that allow clients to connect their conversations and messaging. Toronto-based Dubbeldam Architecture + Design recently completed what principal Heather Dubbeldam calls a “light touch” intervention for the firm’s 23,000-sq.-ft. Canadian headquarters in Toronto’s historic, five-storey Quality Knitting Building. The firm’s three floors had already had their structural wood columns, beams, ceilings and brick walls cleaned and exposed but was previously configured into more traditional private offices. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Slack wanted employees to enjoy access to natural light so the scheme ensures open plan, non-hierarchical work stations sit next to windows. In the centre, a walled core houses washrooms, a kitchenette, storage, server and the entire backup house. But into this solid core, notches were then “carved-out,” providing telephone booths to accommodate one-on-one international conversations using Zoom, informal break away areas so employees can work away from their desks and informal meeting rooms. The last employs three colour schemes for the chairs, carpets and acoustic wall materials. “The real flexibility,” says project architect Scott Sampson, “is the ability to choose where you work, whether in the breakout rooms, phone booths or lounges. If you are tired of your chair you can use a sofa.” - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Each floor boasts a focal space. These include reception on the fifth floor, a lounge on the fourth and a café on the third. With so much wood, augmented by warm yellowy-orange brick, the original space was somewhat monotonal. For contrast “we punched it up with dark gray and with little pops of colour in the carved out spaces,” says Dubbeldam. Five principles underlying her office design approach focus on an office’s unique needs, comfort, collaboration, flexibility and evolvability. While there is play-

fulness throughout, says Sampson, there are no de rigueur ping pong or pool tables. “Work hard and go home [could] be the company motto because if you have a quality of life you are going to bring something to your job.” - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - But why an old building? Following our interview, Dubbeldam discussed with Slack’s directors why they were attracted to the old knitting mill. Slack’s company values, they said, are empathy, solidarity and craftsmanship. They like historic buildings, she reported back, because Slack enjoys honouring their legacy and making them productive again. Slack loves spaces that have history, particularly in manufacturing, industry and hand making. “I think it is because of the contrast with what they do which is so ethereal, all about communication, all done over the network, to something that is real and tangible,” says Dubbeldam. This ethos is evident in places like meeting rooms, which carry names related to knitting, fabrics like cotton and equipment like looms as well as action verbs like knit, weave, warp and pearl. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Craft plays a role in the new fit-up, as well. In the reception area, local artist Kathryn Walter of Felt Studio drapes the space in a striking, handcrafted cloak that not incidentally employs the very tactile fabric of felt. Referencing historic images of old knitting mills with looms, winders and streams of thread running “all over the place, through the ceiling and in all different colours,” Dubbeldam set about employing the idea of “threads of communication” to reflect Slacks messaging apps. “It is all about putting groups of people on different threads and then multiple threads of communication to create more efficient means of working.” This idea is translated through exposed electrical wires, lines of felt, continuous light fixtures and coloured (albeit decorative) cables that duplicate the colours in pop out spaces. These cables “do fun things like run through the ceiling and down walls to tie the three floors together,” says Dubbeldam. - - - - - - 9/10 2017 CANADIAN INTERIORS

This page In response to a heritage building where limited alternations to walls and floors were allowed, Quadrangle made extensive required cabling a prime feature. Bright red auto-body shop hose coil contains the electrical and data cabling down from above.

If you saw a summer blockbuster movie you know the work of Stereo D, a high-tech media firm (part of the Deluxe Entertainment Services Group) that renders stereoscopic 3D content for major motion pictures (and will soon add animation to its new Canadian unit). Its sprawling 46,000-sq.-ft. digital studio, with help from Toronto-based Quadrangle, is now up and running in half of what was (until five years ago) the Canada Bread Factory, located in the heart of Liberty Village, a mix of century-old industrial plants and new residential buildings that the company describes as appropriated by creative and tech agencies based on a predominantly youthful demographic. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - An early 1900s single-storey heritage-listed factory, it has been transformed from a functioning industrial bakery into a now less aromatic high-tech workplace with some very unique requirements. The greatest challenge, according to Quadrangle principal Ted Shore, was to design space for 450 staff that would be comfortable even while working in near darkness. In addition, as an extremely competitive industry where studios are audited by both clients and an independent watchdog for creative espionage security, even sightlines through windows are a consideration. On both counts, Quadrangle’s usual commitment to “the democracy of light” was literally out the window. Yet a working environment able to attract and retain talented, expensive-to-train staff was a priority. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Stereo D’s half of the bakery stretches north from a mammoth, sky lit public spine and primarily consists of one level but with a partially sunken section earmarked for its animation component. Quadrangle’s “punk industrial” approach largely involved stripping the building back to its CANADIAN INTERIORS 9/10 2017

Bob Gundu

Stereo D

muscular steel structure augmented for seismic considerations. Despite extensive wiring requirements, the ceiling has been kept as clean as possible. Through “block planning” using broad defining axes, different functional spaces are demarcated. Light-protected work areas are internalized while meeting and breakout rooms – with added windows – are on the periphery. This includes the bakery’s double height boiler room, now a comfortable light-filled café rendered in 1940s industrial chic. -------------------------------------------------Also locked in the interior is “central park,” a large rectangular retreat lounge topped with a gridded skylight that floods the area with natural light. Volumes of theatrical drapes screen this common area from the dark workstations. Brown, overstuffed leather chesterfields and massive clock faces constructed from salvaged steel ends of the bakery’s boilers and other found industrial objects only adds to the sense of a retro theatre set. The two ends of “central park,” however, are termi-

Right In contrast to the darkened work areas, the breakout spaces offer ample natural light and a pseudo-domestic feeling.

Richard Johnson

Left A steampunk-industrial aesthetic gives the sky-lit atrium a dramatic flair that complements the filmmaking theme. Below Celebrating the building’s history, the design team salvaged machinery such as boiler end caps and repurposed them as oversized wall clocks.

nated in white to act as a projection screen and a monitor. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Careful attention was paid to workstations. “While most animation studios have ad-hoc desks,” says Quadrangle senior associate Vera Gisarov, “we felt there would be great impact by providing each person with a spacious personal area, a comfortable chair [SAYL by Herman Miller], and a new, ergonomic workstation [BIVI by Steelcase].” The latter includes shelving and drawers for workers’ personal effects. The desks are a relatively new product but they were adapted to meet workers’ specific interface with their screens. “We switched out finishes to give them a non-glare finish. We did not want white surfaces glowing in the space,” says Gisarov. Part of the appeal of the desk system was its vertical elements that provide visual relief while allowing workers to personalize their assigned workplaces. In working areas there are no white walls, no white furniture, and no white ceilings: everything is charcoal, black

CI SepOct 17 DE.indd 49

or light green. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - But why an old bakery? According to Stephen Gallop, vice president and general manager for Stereo D Canada, the sheer operational functionality of a single sprawling level means greater connectivity and “creates a different kind of synergy, which is wonderful.” But the artists, he adds, love it. “Typically the people that are working here are very young, very creative and don’t necessarily want to work in a glossy TD or Scotia Tower,” says Gisarov. A New York City-based work place psychology firm, reports Shore, has suggested today’s more mobile workers want a sense of place that has “very solid memorable pieces.” For Stereo D creatives “you are basically talking about computers on desks, relatively impermanent.” And the word “ephemeral” pops up again. “My own theory,” interjects Gallop, “[is that] film is now dead, and it is all digital. There is not even anything physical left except 0 and 1.” History provides rootedness. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 9/10 2017 CANADIAN INTERIORS

17-10-03 9:43 AM

Left A new addition across the central entry reception area allows barrier free access to the north and south office wings as well as bistro café space and access to an external courtyard. Centre Meeting rooms on the second floor of the central connector wing offer floor to ceiling natural light. Right A robust, bright red steel staircase twists down through the central skylit atrium.

Above The openings that once allowed equipment access to the twostorey service bays have been infilled with glazing while their original wood doors now act as imposing interior screens.

The Innovation Centre at Bayview Yards Ottawa’s Innovation Centre at Bayview Yards is a different kettle of fish. Now 46,000 square feet of renovated and new space, its extant core was the abandoned City of Ottawa’s Workshop Building, circa 1941. It has now been adapted and expanded as a multi-purpose tech hub. While Invest Ottawa is its anchor tenant, the Centre is more importantly a not-for-profit enterprise (NGO) constituting the city’s first — and long overdue — step towards creating the “triple helix” approach popular in Europe. The idea is to stimulate government, business and academia collaboration to facilitate a robust creative, digital economy. -------------------------------------------------The Centre is located next to the proposed $2.4 billion mixed-use development on Le Breton Flats, as well as adjacent to new LRT/O-train stations ensuring easy linkage with Carleton University, the University of Ottawa and Algonquin College. “It is the ultimate one-stop business acceleration shop and ‘mash-up’ of technical, business and market services, resources and expertise that helps entrepreneurs and companies launch, grow and thrive, and compete with anyone in the world,” says its promo material. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Built on a 20-ft. structural grid of concrete infilled with brick walls and mammoth wood and glass doors in the old machinery service bays, the original building was H-shaped. Its south wing’s east end was a double height machinery service bay: its west end was two-storeys of work areas. The north wing was two storeys CANADIAN INTERIORS 9/10 2017

although most of its eastern component was a single-storey shed. Connecting the two was a recessed single level entrance structure paralleling the street. The program called for corporate offices for the NGO and Invest Ottawa as well as separate incubator and accelerator components and a maker space. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - According to Sandy Davis, partner at the firm responsible for the renovation, Ottawa-based Hobin Architecture, the placement of program elements was dictated by the existing spatial layout. “The south wing’s first level was always the incubator, the second level the accelerator while the other side was always administration and NGO corporate.” The maker space was fit into the north shed wing. Without compromising business area security, says principal Barry Hobin, the city also wanted interactive community space for public events. “It’s a cool thing because it gets politicians out of City Hall and into a community space,” he says. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To achieve the last objective, a second storey was added to the centre block providing both a link between the two wings as well as meeting and classroom space. Left of the Centre’s entrance, a significant change of levels existed because the basement electrical room pushes up from its bedrock footing. A big challenge, therefore, was ensuing barrier free circulation on the entry level. Instead of removing this impediment, a single storey was added across the back that now connects all first level operative spaces. It also

Steve Clifford

Top The two-storey service bay wing has been transformed into open incubator space for first-stage digital start-ups. Raw wood trellises on wheels can be moved about to help define space for the short term, limited employee tenants. Above The brutalist concrete structure is largely left exposed although copious wiring required for IT is buried within the concrete overlay applied over the original uneven floor. Bright colours, abundant natural light and engaging furniture humanize the imposing space.

hosts a café facing a glazed wall with doors opening onto a landscaped courtyard with a small community garden. The retained, raised concrete floor, reached by maple terrace stairs and an elevator operates as a large event space with maple bleacher seating. For sight lines, one concrete column was removed. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - At reception, part of the concrete roof of the original one-storey centre wing was removed to create an atrium, through which a muscular, sculpted red steel staircase twists up to the second level. A skylight in the new second level roof floods light down into all the public spaces.- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - The south wing’s first level hosts the short-term and highly flexible incubator hub, where most of the space is two-storeys (over 18 feet) with doorway bays now filled with glazing. The bay’s original, huge wooden doors have been reinserted as space defining screens. Moveable, raw wood trellises help define discrete work areas for the usual one-to-three person firms, and the concrete floors were leveled with wiring concealed in the new layer. The space’s single storey west end contains informal common areas and “phone booth”

spaces. The different functional components, says Hobin, work with the building’s volumetrically different spaces into which different aesthetic treatments are applied depending on their function. “The rough and ready aesthetic of the incubator space,” adds Davis, “gives way to more polished finishing in the second storey accelerator space.” - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - The north wing contains the corporate office as well as rented hoteling desks. Here, the finishes are again even more refined. For example, private offices and refined work/meeting spaces are glass panelled and the original hardwood floor has been elegantly refinished. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - While the original and added wood and steel reflects the industrial heritage of the surrounding area, the use of an old industrial building reflects more serendipity than a complex intellectual web between two industrial revolutions. The Workshop Building was a handy -- and parsimonious -- contribution by the city with the province providing renovation capital. This said, and the users seem to agree, it just seems to fit into the creative ethos of an Innovation Centre. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - • 9/10 2017 CANADIAN INTERIORS

SVEND NIELSEN Custom Furniture

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The Design Exchange, Canada’s museum devoted to showcasing design excellence, invited Gensler to partake in Monogram Dinner by Design, to raise awareness and funds for local AIDS hospice Casey House. Inspired by the möbius band, the designers transformed a 12’ x 12’ room into a futuristic yet functional space for a memorable feast. The LED-illuminated strip wrapped around the ceiling and floor and underneath the table, creating an unforgettable dining experience. Ultramodern elements included the wired Corian tabletop, black-lacquered wood, geometric steel-framed chairs and acrylic placemats. Designed over three months, the entire set was erected within a day by millworkers, electricians and volunteers who donated their materials, expertise and time. More than 600 people enjoyed Monogram Dinner by Design while raising thousands of dollars for Casey House. Svend Nielsen Ltd. is an established Designer/ Manufacturer of the finest custom furniture and millwork. Drawing upon more than 60 years experience, we take great pride in crafting products that satisfy the most discerning eye.

nielsen@svendnielsen.com • www.svendnielsen.com

Daycarefor milennias l? Signify Design

By Kristina Ljubanovic

“Not your father’s office” is more than an understatement for a growing crop of office environments where the mandate is to “stimulate creativity and improve worker engagement.” 53 9/10 2017 CANADIAN INTERIORS

CANADIAN INTERIORS 9/10 2017

Linebox Studio Inc.

Opposite page Fun companies want fun spaces. This was the case for GoodLife Fitness Canada, which tapped Square Feet Design Group for its 60,000-sq.ft. head office in London, Ont. Naturally, a fitness theme dominates this corporate landscape, with equipment and activity based work stations throughout: treadmill work stations, basketball hoops, TRX suspension apparatus, spin bikes, and a ping pong / meeting room with swing seating are just some of the examples. Left Similarly, Ottawa-based Linebox Studios was asked by a high-tech firm to design a floor that inspires its workforce. Drawing on the company’s ethos that “there is still further to climb,” the theme became the Mountain: a series of workspaces that highlight different points of a mountain climb, for example Basecamp, where employees could duck into a “tent” to work quietly.

Treehouses, rock walls, bowling alleys, ping pong and foosball, swings and slides, oh my! Remind you of your playground days? Well pinch yourself because more and more workplaces are integrating play structures and fun features to socialize, invigorate and inspire (adult) employees. And the trend is bouncing out from tech into other sectors, as businesses of all shapes and sizes clamour to boost the performance of their existing workforce and draw talent in a competitive market. But does making work look and feel more like play actually, well, work? -------------------------------------------------The science is slim (but emerging) that socialization, movement and choice are key to worker wellbeing and an overall sense of fulfillment. Playground features may be a blunt and shiny tool to get at a larger, more elusive and tantalizing goal — workplace happiness. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Kathy Mauchner, a former account executive at Corus Entertainment, was among the first to move into the company’s then-new Toronto headquarters, Corus Quay, at the foot of Jarvis Street. The 2010 building, by Diamond Schmitt Architects with interiors by Quadrangle, consolidated the company’s +10 downtown locations and 1,200 employees at a single (and singular) decked out waterfront site. Mauchner, who’s 47 and has gone on to work for a number of digital, tech and advertising companies, remembers it as a playground or “camp for adults” (the signature white slide that goes from mezzanine to ground level, like a streamer 9/10 2017 CANADIAN INTERIORS

caught mid-flight, certainly plays that up). “Did we build sandcastles all day, no,” said Mauchner, but the whimsical, circus-like feeling, according to her, felt true to Corus’s brand and engendered creativity. “It solidified my view of the company,” said Mauchner and moving forward, almost wistfully, “no office space will ever be that great.” - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - But are bells and whistles what make an office environment great? Are slides and swings the future of work? Greg Dekker, VP of Sales and Strategy Effectiveness at Teknion, says he’s fielded numerous calls and questions about the workplace of the future from clients and “it’s almost like I can feel them putting their hands up, ‘but we’re not Google!’” he said. “Because they imagine this workplace filled with ping pong tables and playthings. What they don’t realize is that Google’s environment might be ideal for them, but their offices are not identical either, because what’s good for Mountainview is different than New York or London. What’s playful for one might be ordinary for another.” - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Every office and office culture is different, but Dekker boils it down to two foundational trends — movement and choice — that are influencing the rise of play in the workplace. “We have to get people moving more, for all kinds of reasons,” he said. “One, certainly, is that it’s good for us physically, it moves oxygen around.” But Dekker also links personal mobility to performance and ultimately, fulfillment. Employers should trust their employees to answer, for themselves, without having to ask permission, the question “Am I in the right place to get this done?” And they should be prepared to provide those employees with options beyond the “oatCANADIAN INTERIORS 9/10 2017

meal-coloured cubicle or conference room,” said Dekker. “Speaking for myself, I feel so much more fulfilled on days when I have more control.” But like the kid in the proverbial candy store, too much choice, with too little direction, leads to big eyes and upset stomach. “If I’m unclear on the goal, everything sounds really good,” he said. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Recently, companies like IBM and Yahoo, the latter under the leadership of Marissa Mayer, have been tightening the reigns and abandoning their work-from-anywhere policies — variations on the Results Only Work Environment (ROWE) system developed by Cali Ressler and Jody Thompson at Best Buy in the early aughts, which puts employees in control of when and where they work (and makes them accountable for the results). Best Buy axed the ground-breaking program in 2013, while Ressler and Thompson have gone on to write two books, Why Work Sucks and How to Fix It and Why Managing Sucks and How to Fix It, and launch CultureRx, a professional services firm specializing in change management. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Dekker says that while there are many things he likes about ROWE, he also sees the challenges, especially for managers. “It’s really hard to manage results, so what [they] fall back on is, I don’t know how to manage results but I do know how to manage you — and that’s a lot easier when I simply see you,” he said. But there’s another reason, according to Dekker, to encourage people to come into work. “Some of the most successful organizations in the world, like Apple and Google, don’t let you work from home. They really want you to work together with other people. But they don’t just demand it, they try and make the office

Opposite When the client is a travel booking website company, a travel-themed vibe is only natural. Gensler designed this tech company’s Toronto office as a city within a city, a “Downtown/Out of Town” concept which mixes known Toronto urban traits (local graffiti artists were retained to create original artwork on the premises) contrasted against cottage country living (mock cabin using reclaimed wood planks with modern Muskoka chairs). Below Inhabiting and excavating a portion of the Philip Johnson-designed CBC building in downtown Toronto for their clients Bensimon Byrne, OneMethod and Narrative PR gave Lebel & Bouliane and Mazen Studio the chance to play with warehouse-like dimensions and build large-scale interior elements, such as bleachers, mezzanines and even a basketball court.

Adrien Williams

Tom Arban

9/10 2017 CANADIAN INTERIORS

Alan Chakota

Above KPMG wanted their Toronto North office in Vaughan, Ont. by IBI Group to embody as many tenets of the modern office for the modern mobile worker as possible: activity based furniture to support different postures; ubiquitous technology connected by wireless access; natural light; a central amenities hub that includes coffee bars, booth seating and locker spaces; and of course fun activity spaces with games like mini golf and ping pong to provide relief from the inevitably long work day.

space so magnetic that when you show up, you’ve got the choices to achieve what you want,” he said. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - “The measurement isn’t that you’re in your assigned chair, but that you’re accessing the choice and control to get what you need. So, when you want to have some time to play, some baked-in leisure, you’re doing it with people who you’re also achieving something with as an organization,” said Dekker. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - As happy as employees might be working from home Monday morning, running errands on a Tuesday afternoon and staying late to meet a deadline on Thursday, they also derive fulfillment, build trust and perform better when working alongside — and socializing with — their coworkers. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Kevin Daniels is a Professor of Organizational Behaviour at the Norwich Business School at the University of East Anglia in the U.K. and leads the CANADIAN INTERIORS 9/10 2017

Work, Learning and Wellbeing evidence program for the What Works Wellbeing Centre. He’s also the co-author of a review, published in August 2017, of interventions that purport to improve wellbeing by enhancing social environments at work. And while the evidence base wasn’t as strong as he would have liked, there was evidence correlating future changes in wellbeing with improvements to the social environment, mostly through externally-facilitated training or workshop sessions sustained over a period of time. “It got people to do things together, it was as simple as that,” said Daniels. “Some people have requirements for more social contact than others, but some level of social contact is pretty universal, even in individualistic societies like the U.K., Canada and your neighbours to the south.” - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - While the study did not assess the role of physical environments, Daniels says he wouldn’t write off the benefit of rock-climbing walls and other shared,

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active spaces within the workplace. “We could make light of it, but there is potentially another benefit to all that,” he said, in that play supports creativity and a general upswing in mood (though, ever offering a scientific caveat, Daniels is not aware of any specific evidence on this front). - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - “We often talk about the wellbeing-productivity link. Wellbeing drives productivity and there is evidence of that at a group level. Groups of workers that are happier and more satisfied with their work are more engaged with their work and more productive. But of course, it also goes around the other way. The more productive you are, generally the happier you feel. People like to do a good job,” said Daniels. -------------------------------------------------Though there’s some basis for a correlation between social environments and worker wellbeing and between productivity and happiness, the links between play, productivity and happiness are mostly conjecture. An idea originating in northern Europe, however, might prove to be the final twist to this Rubik’s cube. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - “We have this word in Denmark,” said Mette Johansen, Creative Director at Mette Designs, “it’s Arbejdsglæde, or work-joy. It’s about getting the most out of what you do.” The term, which has no direct English translation, describes a mindset and associated strategies such as fewer (but more productive) working hours, flatter hierarchies, constant learning and a focus on happiness. “It should be a fulfilling experience going to work. You also want to be in an environment that encourages you to contribute, beCANADIAN INTERIORS 9/10 2017

cause then you feel you have more of a purpose.” Johansen, through projects with clients like the National Ballet of Canada, Mozilla and start-up incubator OneEleven, tries to create interiors that evoke the company’s culture and ultimately, cultivate joy. At OneEleven’s offices, they’ve integrated play by providing areas and the impetus for employees to “physically build stuff, to stimulate in a different way,” said Johansen. “I think that a little bit of play in a day lets you laugh and connect with your coworkers in a different way. That’s what we are seeing is happening.” - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Johansen concedes that there’s been a shift, between millennials and previous generations, in their attitudes toward work and the workplace. “They work in a different way than they did 20 years ago. So, it’s actually complex for companies that have both generations within the same space; they expect different things within the environment,” she said. “[The millennials] are definitely more demanding because they want to be fulfilled. We all want to have a deeper meaning.” And improvements to the workplace, in Johansen’s experience, can help deliver on that fulfillment. “People feel seen, that’s a big part too… I don’t like using [the term] human capital, but that’s really what it is about,” she said. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - For Heather Steele, Communications Director at Ubisoft Toronto, their space, all 35,000 square feet (per floorplate) in the city’s up-and-coming Junction neighbourhood, is about supporting that human capital, especially as talent is increasingly harder to attract. The studio, established in 2010, has had the

Jonathan Robert

This spread An ambitious relocation project gave Ubisoft Québec the chance to significantly improve its work environments in order to offer their employees “the best video game creation studio in Canada.” To this end, Québec City-based Coarchitecture used a “backyard playground” concept as its core architectural signature: scattered throughout new workstations and meeting rooms are some unusual places such as a hunting shack, a tree house, an igloo, some swings, a camping caravan and a garage whose door opens onto the cafeteria when there is gathering. There’s even a secret passage leading to a hidden meeting room, something employees who used to be Goonies would no doubt love.

9/10 2017 CANADIAN INTERIORS

TechVibes

Above Occupying what used to be the Toronto Sun newspaper headquarters in downtown Toronto is Scotiabank’s newest think tank for future evolutions in digital banking. Supporting agilists, engineers, and developers on a 70,000 square foot single floorplate required IA Interior Architects to think about what a fast paced, tech-infused culture would need. The answer: technology everywhere; a mix of open and closed spaces; and distractions in the form of game areas, a speakeasy bar, quiet-zone-cum-greenhouse, and yes, even a bowling lane.

benefit of some time to assess what environmental features are important and those that aren’t, and according to Steele, the space is a constant work-in-progress (with learnings from one floor finding application on the next and so forth). - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - As an example, Steele points to the tire swings that once occupied a fair amount of space in the studio, but were not well used. “Sure, they look cool, they make for great photos, but if the teams are not using them and don’t feel that they’re useful, why do we have them?” The studio replaced those swings with other fun, more flexible features, like ping pong tables for blowing off steam and getting perspective on problems. HR advisors, embedded within the teams, and more formal feedback sessions with the Improvement Crew help Steele understand what’s working, what’s not — and what’s on the employees’ wish lists. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - The average age at the Ubisoft Toronto CANADIAN INTERIORS 9/10 2017

studio is 34 or 35, older than you might expect. “That shows there are people who are making a career of this, they’re more mature, they have a lot of experience and a certain level of expectation,” said Steele. “They’re not looking for a frat house.” - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - For the leading video game creator and publisher, fun is business and there’s a place for play at work. But while abandoned playgrounds and empty tire swings might make for a good set piece for one of their games, they don’t make for a great work environment. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - “We have really shifted out thinking, it’s evolved with our team, but I do think the days of adding elements to be cool are done. I think it’s a waste of money and it’s not beneficial to keeping your team happy and productive. You can still do really amazing, creative things, but I think we do them with more intent than we’ve ever done in the past,” said Steele. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - •

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The Best of the Best of Canada 20 years and 419 winners later, Canadian Interiors’ Best of Canada Awards is still showing off the best interior and product design that Canada has to offer. By David Lasker

This issue of Canadian Interiors celebrates the 20th anniversary of the Best of Canada Awards (BOC), “The country’s only competition for interior design projects and products without restrictions of size, budget or location,” as I wrote in the 1999 Awards issue. Our retrospect begins, fittingly, with the competition’s “onlie begetter,” Sheri Craig. She became editor and publisher of the magazine when her company, Crailer Communications, bought it from Maclean Hunter. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - “After I took over Canadian Interiors in 1993 and started learning about the industry,” she said, looking only five minutes older than when she sold the magazine to Business Information Group in 2008, “I was surprised that there were various design competitions in different areas of the country, but no overall Canadian competition. I thought, that doesn’t make sense; why don’t we, as a magazine with a national reach and readership, start one? From the very beginning, the Best of Canada was successful.” - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Our interview took place in the Toronto home she shares with her husband, broadcast executive Jack Ruttle; their rescue dogs; and ceramics and other artworks overflowing the walls. Her art-collecting passion contributed to BOC’s distinctiveness. Each year, she would commission limited-edition trophies from a Canadian ceramic, glass or woodwork artist, to be presented to the award winner along with the customary certificate in-

9/10 2017 CANADIAN INTERIORS

Brian So Kinton Ramen in Toronto, by Dialogue 38, features walls clad in highly tactile spruce blocks set at an angle. The broad expanse of unpainted wood evokes the natural, unadulterated purity of the ingredients.

tended for the design firm’s trophy wall. “The event was meant to encourage Canadian art as well as design,” she said. Muffy Block-Collins, a ceramist based in Hamilton, Ont., whose work Sheri had seen at Toronto’s City Hall art show, created the first series. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - She also envisioned the event as “a place where people could come together and meet.” The evening kicked off with a cocktail party on the ground floor of the Design Exchange, where a month-long public exhibition of the winning products and images of the winning projects was unveiled. A jazz trio, starring Jack’s brother on clarinet, played at a moderate loudness level, enabling guests to converse without having to shout. “It was always meant to be classy. No screaming or shouting. No rock bands.”- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Then guests ascended the grand staircase to the Trading Floor, where the awards ceremony took place. Radio-announcer-voiced Jack was the upbeat master of ceremonies. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - On the Fifties variety TV program The Jackie Gleason Show, the host would transition to the next act by asking Lester Lanin, his bandleader, for “a little traveling music.” In that tradition, the jazz trio beguiled the time during the repetitive walks to and from the stage.- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - After the awards were given out, Sheri recalled, “People from all around the country would stay around and mingle. The afterCANADIAN INTERIORS 9/10 2017

party offered plenty of food and drink,” including, for five years, the Absolut Vodka bar.- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - The first year’s event took place June 25, 1998. Subsequently, Sheri realized she’d draw a bigger crowd by aligning the date to “‘Twas the night before IIDEX.” “They’d have two reasons to come. We were fortunate in being able to get sponsors to help cover the costs. Eventually, so many people wanted to attend that we had to charge admission to break even, though we gave tickets to the winners. People would come up to me and say that this was ‘a classy event’ and ‘the best party of the year.’”- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Even the judging sessions were a family affair, with catering by Shay Gourmet, run by her son-in-law, Andy Shay. -------------------------------------------------BOC winners have ranged from one-person boutiques to multinational design giants. We asked a few laureates what prize-winning meant to them. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - “The Best of Canada Awards were very supportive to expose, honour and validate the early work of our office and remain a wonderful annual survey of design — a wide range of design — in Canada,” said nine-time winner Drew Mandel Architects’ eponymous principal. “The open award categories were unique early adopters to include the various disciplines of design and should be of great interest to the complete design industry as well as the general public.”

Shai Gil

Set on a narrow corner lot at the base of a ski resort in Collingwood, Ont., the 2,400 square foot Maison Glissade by Atelier Kastelic Buffey is conceived as a reinterpretation of the traditional ski chalet, the design was inspired by local agrarian building types, namely the barn.

-------------------------------------------------Fellow nine-time winner John Tong of +tongtong said that the BOC “reveals the Canadian design industry as a tour de force on the international stage. Achieving a high level of professional accomplishment and creative innovation with all our projects is our aim. Winning the BOC and being published in Canadian Interiors regularly is really important in reinforcing that to our clients.”- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - For 16-time winner Bennett Lo, principal of Dialogue 38, winning a BOC “is rewarding for everyone on the team that worked on the project. Every time we receive an award, it’s a feeling of, ‘Oh, we’re on an international level.’ And the client says, ‘Oh, you did something good.’”- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Looking back at the 419 — has it really been that many? — winning projects and products since 1998, here are my four, highly subjective, stand-out picks for the Best of the Best of Canada. -------------------------------------------------2015: Kinton Ramen, Toronto, by Dialogue 38, Toronto. On the façade of this casual Japanese eatery, three-foot-tall K-I-N-TO-N letters at floor level, and the profile of a pig above the entrance set into the upper storeys’ wooden slat screen, playfully allude to the Japanese word “kinton” or “golden pig.” Inside, feature walls are clad in highly tactile spruce blocks set at an angle, then piled in zigzags. The broad expanse of unpainted wood evokes the natural, unadulter-

ated purity of the ingredients. Actually, deciding on which of Dialogue 38’s many winning restaurants was a toss-up. It could as easily have been, say, 2008’s Spring Rolls Yonge and Sheppard Centre, with its economical yet memorable 24-foot-wide chandelier comprising 10,000 iridescent gold-tinged ivory origami cranes; or 2016’s Yu Seafood in Richmond Hill, Ont., which prolific Dialogue 38 principal Bennett Lo, Toronto’s Asian-resto design czar, says is “the most highend Chinese restaurant in Canada and probably North America.” His subtly detailed hospitality projects convey the client’s brand while avoiding glitz and glitter, and over-emphatic, slapstick, or literal and trite gestures.- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 2011: Maison Glissade, Collingwood, Ont., by Atelier Kastelic Buffey, Toronto. What fun! Let me count the ways that this ski chalet plays mind games. First, it engages in semiotics, the language of signs and symbols, to an extent rarely seen since the circa-1980 flowering of PoMo (Post-Modernism). While every winning residential project piques one’s interest and admiration, that appreciation takes place in the intellect. Maison Glissade, however, bypasses higher-brain functions, so to speak, by referencing the atavistic archetypes for “house” that we learned during early childhood. Hence the project’s wistful, dreamy Kinderszene quality.- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Second, the chalet has a surreal aspect generated by the ambiguity of size. The lack of minia9/10 2017 CANADIAN INTERIORS

James Dow In less than 3,000 square feet, and with no view, no windows or natural light, Patkau Architects created an Arrivals Lounge for Air Canada that gives respite to weary international business travellers on their way to destinations in the Vancouver region.

ture elements such as mullioned windows that subdivide the façade confounds the viewer’s sense of scale. Are we near or far? Are we gazing at a full-size house or an abstracted kiddie model of a house that was put into a sci-fi enlarging machine? Is it a real house or the Platonic essence of house-ness?- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Third, a lack of visual clutter — the paring away of extraneous, distracting visual elements — was a prerequisite for attaining ambiguity regarding size. The process bestowed a sense of monumentality that gave rise to another sight gag: the modest ski chalet as monumental sculptural object. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Fourth: mimesis or the representation of reality in art. The chalet is the inverse of a photograph. What is a photograph? A two-dimensional simulacrum of three-dimensional space. The chalet, as idealized in the image appearing in the Awards issue of a straight-ahead shot, with the camera centered in front of the house, is a three-dimensional rendering of a two-dimensional object, evoking a child’s outline drawing of a house. -------------------------------------------------1999: Air Canada Arrivals Lounge, Vancouver International Airport, by Patkau Architects, Vancouver. The Patkaus may be architects, but this project is pure interior design. Given a 3,000 square foot black box bereft of windows, and therefore of natural light and — what a pity in such a scenic locale — views, the PatCANADIAN INTERIORS 9/10 2017

kaus nonetheless created a cheery, non-claustrophobic salon for Air Canada passengers not travelling steerage. Views or no views, the extensive layering of wood planks along the walls and ceiling branded the location as British Columbia to North Americans, and as Canadian to international travellers, such as Will Alsop. He’s the British starchitect whose short-lived Toronto practice gave us the Ontario College of Art and Design’s beloved “Pick Up Stix” building. I asked, when he was a judge at the 2005 BOC, if he, as someone with a transatlantic perspective, discerned a distinctive Canadian design style. He replied, “From my point of view, we didn’t see anything today that’s particularly Canadian, except for the woody look of some projects.” Point taken. That wood-plank aspect also branded the Patkaus’ B.C. style when exported outside their home turf. It recurred in details such as the wraparound wood grille, a brise soleil made of oversize lathwork, inside and out in their Grande Bibliotheque du Quebec in Montréal, and in their School of Nursing and Biomedical Research Center at the University of Texas in Houston. -------------------------------------------------1998: Vox Table, by Mark Muller for Nienkämper. Numerous worthy chairs, lamps, desks and other furnishings have won the Best Product Award, but only one — our very first — rose to the level of industry game-changer, on a par with Ford’s 1908 Model T revolutionizing the auto industry. (For those in need of a history lesson: the

Nienkämper

With the Vox table, Nienkämper more or less created, then promptly cornered, its own market niche: wood conference tables that unobtrusively accommodate wire cabling.

Model T was the first automobile mass-produced on moving assembly lines with completely interchangeable parts, marketed to the middle class.) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Indeed, one can speak of the pre- and post-Vox eras. As I wrote in these pages, “In 1998, Nienkämper more or less created, then promptly cornered, its own market niche: wood conference tables that unobtrusively accommodate wire cabling.”- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - The text in Nienkämper’s advertisement in that year’s Awards issue conveys the pre-Vox mindset and why Vox was such a big deal at the time: “Imagine a work surface inlaid with flip-up voice/data/power modules for plugging in what you want. Imagine storage for excess cable in graceful, elliptical legs with easily removable panels.”- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Nienkämper’s competitors quickly knocked out Vox knockoffs, to the extent that Vox’s amenities soon came to be considered de rigueur for a modern conference table. Remember, however, they were only “obvious” after Muller invented them. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - As he explained in a 1998 interview, “We used to give ‘image’ to companies, now we give them connectivity and access. Five years ago, nobody dreamed of sticking an outlet on the boardroom table. Suddenly, no one can do without it. Really, there was no catalyst or products available to do this, so we created them.”- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - In a 2017 update, he explained, “Before Vox, boardroom tables were big statement pieces for corporations. Back then, the batteries in laptops sucked, they only lasted an hour and a half and you needed to plug them in. No one had a solution for that. Vox was the only product that did it, and in an elegant way. What’s the word for something that’s a game-changer? It was disruptive.”- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Vox tables came pre-wired and arrive ready to plug in and use. As Klaus Nienkämper said in a 1998 interview, “It’s something that gets delivered and you just plug it in, basically. You don’t have to call in Bell telephone and the electrician and all those things you normally do.”- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - When Vox won Best Product again in 2002 for a version with new bases and wire management, I wrote in that year’s Awards issue, “Vox is arguably the best product in its market niche in the world, not just the Dominion.” So, quick, incoming Governor-General Julie Payette, give the man an Order of Canada! - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - •

Coming soon: winners of the 20th annual Best of Canada design competition will be unveiled in the next issue of Canadian Interiors! 9/10 2017 CANADIAN INTERIORS

Architecture Construction Design Engineering Property Renovation

Principal Supporting Associations

2017

November 29-30 Metro Toronto Convention Centre North Building

Keynote Speakers: • • • • •

Assemble (London) Form Us With Love (Stockholm) Marc Kushner (New York) Rick Hansen (Vancouver) SO–IL (Brooklyn)

Image Courtesy of Assemble

iidexcanada.com thebuildingsshow.com

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Summer in the City Text and photos by David Lasker

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Bisha bash

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Toronto’s newest five-star hotel and residences, the Bisha, rises 44 storeys above Blue Jays Way, its modernist, Wallman Architects-designed curtainwall anchored by the retained red brick and stone heritage façade of the former Diesel Playhouse, erstwhile home of the Second City comedy troupe. The hotel is the vision of Charles Khabouth, CEO of INK Entertainment (Iconink), who has created many of the city’s trendiest clubs, dating back to Stilife and Guvernment, and whose childhood nickname provided the hotel’s moniker; Lifetime Development; and hotel manager Loews. Aside from ninth-floor rooms by Kravitz Design, the property’s interiors were created by Studio Munge. Their mandate extended to the rooftop eatery, the first in Canada to feature Baja cuisine, a nouvelle fusion of Mexican and Caribbean, emphasizing fresh produce and seafood, which the summery, blond-wood décor certainly evokes. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - --------------------------------------------------------------------------1—On the 44th-storey roof deck: Mayor John Tory; Jonathan Tisch, CEO of New York-based Loews Hotels; Danny Soberano, president, Ink Entertainment; and Brian Brown, principal, Lifetime Developments. 2—Iconink’s Eoin Cullen, corporate food and beverage manager; Hanif Harji, CEO and founder; and Ben Heaton, executive chef. 3—Aaron Fox, commercial executive (Americas), Monocle; and Mackenzie Keast, PR and social media co-ordinator, Lifetime Developments. 4—Iconink’s Victoria Simmerling, corporate food and beverage project manager; and Harry Feldman, senior food and beverage manager. 5— Standing in front of one of two mirror-imaged monumental ceramic heads by Japanese sculptor Jun Kaneko at the hotel entrance that had been unveiled a moment earlier: Jacques Lapierre, Bisha general manager, and Charles Khabouth, CEO of INK Entertainment, flank Khabouth’s high-school-student daughter, Maya. 6— Mel Pearl, principal, Lifetime Developments; and Charles Khabouth Jr., a student at George Brown College School of Hospitality who works as an Iconink server in his spare time.

Diamond + Schmitt Summer Solstice El dia mas largo, the longest day, is all the justification Diamond Schmitt Architects (DS) needs to host its Summer Solstice Party. The annual event drew a diverse crowd of designers, clients, politicians and artistes this past June to an airy pavilion at Evergreen Brick Works. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ----------------------------------------------------------

1—Interior designer Stella McTernan, who heads McTernan Design Associates; DS senior architect Thom Pratt; architect Claire Lavoie of her self-named firm; and Douglas Smith, principal, Smith + Andersen mechanical and electrical engineers. 2—Peter Wookey, manager at real estate firm Seniority Investments; Anne O’Hagan, principal at AOH Communications and autobiographer (The Only Woman in the Room); and DS partner and co-founder Donald Schmitt. 3—Edward Epstein, owner of Gallery 345, an exhibition space and music salon in Toronto’s Parkdale district; and DS principal Martin Davidson. 4—DS staff members Sarah Mackenzie, architect; Meagan Mallysh, HR manager; Jen Carbno, business development; co-founder Jack; and architects Patrick Johnson and Ewa Rudzik. 5—DS staffers Kristen Weibe, student architect; intern architects Justin Kennedy and Duncan Mackinnon; student architect Michael Angelo DeGirolamo; Carlos Gargallo, architectural staff; and Dorothy Jones, intern architect. 6—DS principal Robert Graham; Tim Fitzpatrick, VP construction at Canada-wide builder Pomerleau; Sam Campell, controller, and the eponymous David, of David Thompson Architect, based in Kitchener, Ont.

Guilding the Inn With 88 acres of landscaped grounds overlooking the Scarborough Bluffs, including a sculpture garden of romantic ruins made of salvaged bits of demolished Beaux-Arts bank buildings, the Guild Inn Estate was always one of Toronto’s quirkier attractions. Dynamic Hospitality & Entertainment Group, owner of the Eglinton Grand, Berlin and several Yuk Yuks locations, renovated the inn’s reopening as a venue accommodating up to 1,000 guests for social, cultural and corporate events. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -----------------------------------------------------------------------------

1—At the May grand opening: project designers Phil Goldsmith, restoration architect; associate architect Giancarlo Garofalo; and Peter Pascaris, principal at Queen’s Quay Architects International and partner-in-charge for the Guild Inn. 2—Queen’s Quay Architects International’s Christine Luksis, who oversaw the project’s interior design, and her father, architect Maris Luksis, the firm’s president. “We wanted a West Coast vibe,” she said, “mixing nature with modern, clean lines. We kept the ballroom as an open, blank canvas that won’t clash with what bridesmaids wear.” 3—Dynamic Hospitality & Entertainment Group’s David Moore, VP, and Piero Suppa, managing director; Jenny Alfandary, CIO at software firm Retail Connection; and Marc Couturier, general manager, Toyota Tsusho Canada, the auto maker’s trade affiliate. 4—Hipsters Anthony Sanzo, financial advisor, TD Canada Trust; Stephanie Picca, marketing manager, RBC; Jessica De Francesca, regional manager, at skincare products maker Babor Canada; and Dragon’s Den winner Joseph Ng, co-founder of Umoro, which makes health and wellness products.

9/10 2017 CANADIAN INTERIORS

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Tall Terrace Tales

Mordecai Richler set a pivotal scene in his novel Barney’s Version (and in his screenplay for the 2010 film starring Paul Giamatti and Dustin Hoffman) at the Park Hyatt’s rooftop bar. The newly renovated former home of Jilly’s strip club, smartly renovated as the Broadview Hotel, continues Toronto’s tradition of roof-deck watering holes. The Broadview seems fated to serve as east-end analogue to the west end’s Gladstone Hotel: cultural anchors to the trendy artsy set, both anchoring their respective Queen Street neighbourhoods and both occupying landmark fin de siècle buildings. So, it was fitting that the DesignAgency, designers for the renovation, held their annual summer party on the Broadview’s rooftop patio hospitality area. - - - - -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------• 1—DesignAgency staff members Emily Schorn, designer; Breanne Spence, project designer; Dale Stephenson, designer; Ariel Apter, project designer. 2—Paul Amos, star of stage (Stratford Festival), video game (Assassin’s Creed) and television (Lost Girl); and his wife, Danielle Brodhagen, a self-described mindset coach; Greg Seligman, president and owner of residential builder G.E.S. Construction; and Kristina Finch, managing director at content recommendation network Revcontent. 3—Marisa and Klaus Nienkämper Jr., the husband-and-wife duo heading the Klaus by Nienkämper retail store on King Street East; with Simona Taroni, head of sales. 4—DesignAgency founding partner Allen Chan, hockey-loving seven-year-old son Graydon, and wife Allison. 5—Nathaniel Garcia of his eponymous furniture agency, repping Spain’s Andreu World, Pont Mobles and Bover Barcelona; and branding-agency principals Joel Gregorio of Sovereign State; and Marlo Onilla of Biography. 6—DesignAgency’s Jacky Lac, project designer; and Savannah Bellows, studio co-ordinator. 7—Residential interior designer Sharon Mimran; Josh Coulas, director of operations at Peter McCann Architectural Models; DesignAgency founding partner Matthew Davis; and Terence Lee, senior landscape architect at PMA Landscape Architects.

CANADIAN INTERIORS 9/10 2017

KPMG Toronto North Design Firm: IBI Group

Congratulations to all ARIDO Award winners!

Perpetual Motion

Infinite life for Gensler’s awardwinning temporary exhibit

by Leslie C. Smith

In 2016, Toronto’s Design Exchange issued a challenge to a handful of design firms, asking them each to create a memorable dining experience in a 12’x12’x12’ space, with proceeds from the resultant Monogram Dinner by Design charity fundraising event slated for AIDS hospice Casey House. Gensler, a global architecture, design and planning firm, put together a team from its local office, headed up by designer Valerie Cardozo and project manager Michelle Park. It took three months to fully conceptualize the piece, but only a day for industry volunteers to do the build. The result was stunning in its simplicity. -------------------------------------------------Riffing on the idea of a Möbius band, the design team produced a neverending dinner setting, with table connecting to floor, connecting to wall arches that merge into an overhead “ceiling” strip that runs back to the table, all illuminated down the centre by softly diffused LED lights. The inherent energy of the piece is heightened by its stark, all-white emergence from a shadowy, black lacquered box. A more practical-minded addition to its futuristic effect is the Corian tabletop’s built-in capacity to charge electronic devices. A minimalist masterwork, Gensler’s exhibit went on to win a 2016 Best of Canada award from this magazine. CANADIAN INTERIORS 9/10 2017

-------------------------------------------------Temporary exhibits, by their very nature, have a limited shelf-life. How fortunate, then, that Waterloo’s Communitech Data Hub loved the piece so much they bought it as a permanent focal point for their freshly refurbished office complex. The venerable 1890s heritage structure at 14 Erb Street in the heart of the city’s downtown had first housed an insurance company and then acted as headquarters for the Waterloo Regional Police. After being sold in 2013 to Ophelia Lazaridis, wife of BlackBerry co-founder Mike Lazaridis, the 19,000-sq.ft. building had its interior completely remodelled by RAW Architects into a suitably modern, openconcept melange of exposed brick and wood, airy glass partitioning and mullion-free windows. The multi-tenant complex, which opened this past May, offers workstations and creative space to high-tech start-ups specializing in artificial intelligence, big data and the Internet of Things. -------------------------------------------------To their credit, RAW embraced the idea of installing the Möbius piece, black box and all, in the hub’s core. It works beautifully, in tune with both its surroundings and the visionary minds who utilize the space, acting as a fitting salute to the shape of things to come. - - - - - - - - - - •

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