Canadianinteriorsjulyaug2014

July/August 2014

years

Taking it easy Superk端l goes to the lake Hot stuff for the kitchen An appetizing new tapas bar

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July/August 2014

Official publication of the Interior Designers of Canada

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COVER — 23 Detail of the Stealth Cabin (Lake of Bays, Muskoka, Ont.) designed by Superül.

Photo by Shai Gil

Contents

DEPARTMENTS INSIDE — 8 WHAT’S UP — 10

FEATURES SACRED GROUND — 23 In Ontario’s Lake of Bays region, the impeccable Stealth Cabin by Superkül rests lightly on the land.

By Leslie C. Smith

HOW IT’S MADE — 12 Lounge Chair with Arms Gus* Modern revives a mid-century chair designed by Russell Spanner.

By Peter Sobchak

COMING ON STRONG/SOFT — 29 Running the gamut at Heimtextil 2014.

By Peter Sobchak

IN THREES — 14 Asia modern Three up-to-date eateries.

By Michael Totzke

CHAOS THEORY — 32 Veteran Montreal designer Jean de Lessard gives Chez Carl Tapas & BBQ just the right amount of crazy.

By Rhys Phillips

THE GOODS — 16 Hot stuff The best new kitchen products from Canada, Germany, Italy and the U.S.

By Michael Totzke

LESS CLOWN, MORE COFFEE — 36 Do polished stone floors, sleek white tables, a wooden-slat ceiling and tranquil lighting make you think of McDonald’s?

They will now.

By Peter Sobchak

WHO’S WHO — 40

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THAT WAS THEN — 42 Here’s the Beef A blast from my past.

By Michael Totzke July/August 2014 CANADIAN INTERIORS 5

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Deputy Editor

Peter sobchak Associate Editors

David lasker, Rhys Phillips, leslie C. smith Art Director

lisa Zambri

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Canadian Interiors magazine is published by BIG Magazines LP, a division of Glacier BIG Holdings Company Ltd. Tel: 416-442-5600, Fax: 416-510-6875 e-mail: info@canadianinteriors.com website: www.canadianinteriors.com Canadian Interiors publishes six issues, plus a source guide, per year.

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Inside

Bill of fare My name is Michael and I’ll be your editor tonight. I aim to appeal to your taste and satisfy your hunger.

To start, let me recommend three departments, cooked up by yours truly: What’s Up, in which I plot the progress of “Sacré potage,” a project by Atelier Barda Architects paying homage to Canada’s “forgotten vegetables” (“Where have all the heirlooms gone?” page 10); In Threes, showcasing the design of three Asian eateries in Ontario (“Asia modern,” page 14); and The Goods, with my top-10 picks of new kitchen products (“Hot stuff,” page 16).

Now for the main course. Associate editor Leslie C. Smith checks out a modern take on the traditional log cabin, in Ontario’s Lake of Bays region, by Superkül (“Sacred ground,” page 23). She writes, “There is such a sensory richness to the Stealth Cabin – so much light and air, so many beautiful sightlines – that it’s hard to imagine spending time anywhere else.” Associate editor Rhys Phillips visits the new Chez Carl Tapas & BBQ in Montreal, designed by Jean de Lessard (“Chaos theory,” page 32). The veteran designer, writes Phillips, “adapts a physical language of fractured or ‘variable’ geological-like geometries that are rearranged to produce discrete, physically irregular spaces to be inhabited, all resulting in a sort of ‘programmed chaos.’” And deputy editor Peter Sobchak takes a look at the “new” McDonald’s (“Less clown, more coffee,” page 36). As he writes, “Walk into one now and there’s a good chance it has been touched by the massive $1-billion nationwide reimaging initiative marked by the biggest store-by-store makeover in McDonalds’ Restaurants of Canada Limited’s history.”

To end, may I suggest something light and bittersweet? I think my remembrance of the year I worked at the Great West Beef Co. – a steakhouse in Waterloo, Ontario – fits the bill (“Here’s the Beef,” page 42). c I

Michael Totzke mtotzke@canadianinteriors.com

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What’s Up

JULY/AUG Where have all the heirlooms gone?

“Sacré potager,” created by Montreal-based Atelier Barda Architects, is a garden that gets around. One of the most popular attractions at the 2013 edition of the International Garden Festival – held at Reford Gardens/Jardins de Métis in Quebec – it is enjoying a return engagement at the 2014 festival. Between engagements, it stopped in at Canada Blooms in Toronto in March; and a pared-down version was presented at Casa d’Italia for the 2nd edition of D!SEGNO, a

celebration of lifestyle, fashion and design in Montreal’s Little Italy. “Sacré potager” pays homage to “forgotten vegetables,” offering a plea for their return to our tables.

Reford Gardens/Jardins de Métis is located on the shores of the St. Lawrence and Mitis rivers at the gateway to the Gaspé Peninsula; the national historic site is ranked as one of the great gardens of North America. Created by Elsie Reford over a period of 30 years, Reford Gardens is a

living testimony to her passion for gardening and plants. Today, her great-grandson, Alexander Reford, leads a team that maintains this unique horticultural and architectural heritage.

As for the International Garden Festival, it is the leading venue for the exhibition of contemporary gardens in North America.

Since 2000, the festival has presented 140 gardens by more than 750 designers from Canada and 15 other countries.

“Sacré potager” explores the wild and the sacred. The wild are the plants that we once

10 CANADIAN INTERIORS July/August 2014

cultivated 100 or more years ago; because they have assumed a special importance in our battle to preserve plant biodiversity, they are considered sacred. “Sacré potager” is composed of wooden altars of varying sizes evoking crossroad oratories or private chapels.

Heritage vegetables grow at the base of each altar, evoking the biodiversity that is shrinking, undermined by the processes of selection, production and marketing of modern society.

Votive candles adorn each display, customized with images of vegetables. With a witty combination of the sacred and the profane, the garden is meant to raise awareness and promote biodiversity – inviting the visitor to make an offering for the return of heritage seeds and biodiversity to our gardens, markets and grocery stores.

Atelier Barda Architects is

Moonlight pendants Yoko

How does our garden grow? “Sacré potager” pays homage to “forgotten vegetables” – including heirloom varieties of beans, rutabagas, peas, leeks, squash and spinach – offering a plea for their return to our tables and grocery shelves.

The garden is composed of wooden altars of varying sizes evoking private chapels; heritage vegetables grow at the base of each altar. Votive candles adorn each display, customized with images of vegetables. “Sacré potager” was designed

by Montreal-based Atelier Barda Architects, founded by (from left in photo below) Antonio Di Bacco, Patrick Morand, Julien Pinard and Cécile Combelle.

aMorfic Wall

six new projects were selected, with designers from Canada, the u.s., spain, switzerland and south Korea represented. the 15th edition of the International garden Festival continues to sept. 28, 2014, at Reford gardens/Jardins de Métis in Quebec.

Our mistake In a feature in our May/June 2014 issue (“this won’t hurt a bit,” page 33), the Bloor West Dental group was incorrectly identified as the Dundas West Dental Clinic; and Dr. Carolyn Poon Woo was incorrectly identified as Dr. Carolyn Poon. We regret the errors.

STUDIO

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engaged in questions surrounding the contemporary transformation of landscapes and seeks responses that work at a human scale for different places and users. Founded by three architects (Cécile Combelle, Antonio Di Bacco and Patrick Morand) and a designer/graphic designer (Julien Pinard), the firm advocates a playful approach when developing solutions that are above all simple and poetic. Atelier Barda has developed different projects and competition entries from installations to urban spaces, for which the group has been awarded several prizes both in Quebec and internationally. the competition for this year’s festival – the 15th annual – attracted 293 proposals for contemporary gardens, submitted by over 700 architects, landscape architects, designers and artists from 35 countries.

2014-07-16 8:47 AM

How It’s Made 1—Originally designed in 1950 and manufactured by Spanner Products Limited, Spanner’s chair design is based in part on industrial battery boxes, which was one of many products the family’s woodworking company produced.

2—The revived line by Gus* is bench-made in Toronto, just like the original. The frame and other wood pieces are composed of solid Quebec-sourced birch and curved birch plywood components.

3—The chair seat boxes match the proportions, finger-joint and dowel-joint construction of the original battery boxes.

Lounge Chair with Arms Gus* Modern revives a mid-century chair designed by Russell Spanner.

—Text and factory photos by Peter Sobchak

Starting in May 2014, a classic mid-century-modern chair design that hasn’t been seen for more than half a century resumed production, thanks to Gus* Design Group, a Toronto-based modern home furnishings manufacturer. Known to collectors as the Lounge Chair with Arms and originally designed by Toronto-born Russell Spanner (19161974), it is a unique chair that features a woven-web seat, formed plywood backrest and angular shape – epitomizing the energetic spirit of postwar North American industrial design. Gus* worked together with the Spanner family to bring the design back to life and to ensure the new lines meet the designer’s original specifications. gusmodern.com

5—Woven-web seat material is 100-per-cent cotton strapping, and the line is available in six finish options, ranging from light to dark birch, with red, black or green webbing.

12 CANADIAN INTERIORS July/August 2014

© 2014 Shaw, A Berkshire Hathaway Company

4—Tapered legs are attached to the seat with exposed carriage bolts. This is one of over 40 steps – half of which are by hand – needed to assemble 14 pieces of wood, 17 fasteners and 13 straps into one chair.

© 2014 Shaw, A Berkshire Hathaway Company

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In Threes

2

1

3

1-Spring Sushi, designed by J. Cho Design (Photo by AZ Works Productions Inc.) 2-Pearl Restaurant, designed by Superkül (Photo by Shai Gil Photography) 3-Su&shi Noodle Bar, designed by Fuel* DesignLab (Photo by Phillip Photography)

Asia modern Three up-to-date eateries.

—By Michael Totzke

Some of the most sheerly exuberant design these days is being done for Asian restaurants, including Pearl Restaurant and Su&shi Noodle Bar in Toronto, and Spring Sushi in nearby Hamilton.

Located in busy Bayview Village Shopping Centre in north Toronto, the new Pearl Restaurant is a modern translation of the decades-old original (still thriving) on the city’s waterfront. Toronto’s Superkül took as its inspiration the iconic Chinese plum, the winter-blooming tree symbolizing strength and endurance.

Acrylic panels die-cut in the shape of plum petals and flowers frame the space.

The white and blue design provides a

14 CANADIAN INTERIORS July/August 2014

crisp and modern aesthetic, and offers a visual respite from a typically hectic and hermetic mall environment.

J. Cho Design, based in Unionville, ON, was tasked with recreating Spring Sushi on Upper James Street in Hamilton, which had partially burned down after an unfortunate incident. The biggest obstacle the team faced was how to eliminate the visual barrier the kitchen – positioned dead centre – presented. The solution is a large ceiling feature in the shape of a DNA double helix, comprising 600 feet of LED and fibre-optic panels embellished with Swarovski crystals. This vibrant “cloud” not only links the two dining spaces separated by the

kitchen, but also provides a memorable visual metaphor for Spring Sushi’s rebirth.

To realize Su&shi Noodle Bar in Toronto’s Yorkdale Shopping Centre, the city’s Fuel* DesignLab also looked up – creating a flowing flower ceiling that embodies the playful essence of the brand. The entrance portal and furniture are integrated to create a sense of spatial separation without the use of walls, allowing the client to maximize seating capacity without compromising comfort and accessibility. Imported flamed granite, custom-formed steel tables, powdercoated aluminum flowers and large-format graphics come together to create a unified whole. c I

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The Goods

Hot stuff The best new kitchen products from Canada, Germany, Italy and the U.S. —By Michael Totzke

GO BANANAS! GO CHERRIES! Brooklyn, New York­–based Flavor Paper is known for producing fab and funky wallpaper by hand-screened and digital printing. Case in point: B-A-N-A-N-A-S! and Cherry Forever, both created

by Michael Angelo (hairdresser, makeup artist, photographer and designer) of New York City’s Wonderland Beauty Parlor, and both available in scratch-and-sniff and unscented versions. The former comes in white Mylar, chrome Mylar, copper Mylar or silver Mylar; the latter is available in black, chrome, scented yellow chrome or scented blush. flavorpaper.com

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The Goods

R S NOW WE’RE COOKING Bulthaup’s new Cooking Table makes cooking the focus of the room. What seems to be a conventional wooden table is transformed when the wings are pulled out to reveal the interior: a combination cooktop and concrete surface. Foods can be whipped up and kept warm on the cooktop, then placed within everyone’s reach on the concrete surface. bulthaup.com

D S a

FLUX TIME Scavolini presents the revamped version of the Flux Swing

by Giugiaro Design. The distinctive shape at the core of the system finds full expression in a new element – with a sculptural “slide effect” – forming a link between the kitchen and living area. Flux Swing’s grey aluminum structure can be combined with matt or glossy lacquered doors in 30 colour variations; in high-gloss metallic purple, red or grey; steel; or glass with an aluminum frame. The sinuous countertop is made of Corian. scavolini.com

MIX IT UP The chevron lives, thanks to the Mix and Match collection from Italy’s Gamma Due by way of Canadian company Ceragres. The matte porcelain tiles come in several bold patterns and 20 monochromatic colours, allowing for various options and permutations. ceragres.ca

CLASSIC BLACK Whirlpool’s new Black Ice Collection offers a sleek and dramatic alternative to stainless steel. It includes refrigerators, wall ovens, ranges, microwaves, cooktops and dishwashers – available with such innovative features as MicroEdge Spill Control Shelves, Sensor Cycles and TimeSavor Plus True Convection. whirlpool.ca 18 CANADIAN INTERIORS July/August 2014

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The Goods

TILT-A-WHIRL Moen, North America’s leading faucet brand, has launched the Tilt pull-out kitchen faucet. Its sleek, compact, cylindrical design works well even in the most compact of kitchens. moen.ca

THAT ROSY GLOW Dornbracht has struck gold – rose gold, that is – with its Cyprum gilt finish.

Made of a copper and gold alloy mixture, the 18-carat patina features a noncorrosive, electroplate surface. Cyprum is the first new finish launched by Dornbracht since 2009, and is available in the brand’s most iconic designs: Tara (kitchen) and MEM (bath). dornbracht.com

SPOTLESS GE Appliances has reimagined the dishwasher, with jets reaching every dish and deep into bottles, so that dishes are completely clean inside and out. The first of its kind, the new GE Appliances Stainless Steel Interiors Dishwasher includes 102 wash jets – 54 per cent more than any other dishwasher on the market. geappliances.ca

SINGULAR SENSATION Based in Montreal, Stephen Lysak of Stephen Lysak Design creates modern craftsman furniture and custom-design woodwork. His Solid Walnut Serving Platter is made of thick black walnut from a single raw slab. Cut by hand and smooth to the touch, it measures 7-by-14-inches. stephenlysak.com

20 CANADIAN INTERIORS July/August 2014

DOUBLE DUTY The BlockBowl by Canadian designer Geoffrey Lilge for OnOurTable is both a cutting block and a bowl. Available in two sizes (11 inches and 14 inches), it’s made of solid edge-grain walnut. onourtable.ca

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sacred ground In Ontario’s lake of Bays region, superkül’s impeccable stealth Cabin rests lightly on the land.

—By leslie C. smith

Ship to shore Like a boat that carves through the water yet leaves no trace of its passage behind, the cabin was crafted to disappear into the woods. A blunted prow holds the screened dining room (at right in the top photo; at left above).

Photography by shai gil

July/August 2014 CANADIAN INTERIORS 23

Sometimes, Meg Graham says, she and her husband, Andre D’Elia, find themselves having to talk clients down from sheer squarefootage overkill. Co-principals of the trending Toronto architectural design firm Superkül, they enjoy the challenge of a smaller space and understand that artistic clarity often comes from concision. Then, too, whatever they do must connect rationally to its contextual setting.

24 CANADIAN INTERIORS July/August 2014

In the case of the Stealth Cabin, completed in 2012 in Ontario’s Lake of Bays region and presented to the media a year later, Graham and D’Elia were lucky enough to have found two clients whose views dovetailed with their own approach.

For them, they created a compact 1,500-square-foot abode that “nestles into the topography and doesn’t dominate anyone’s view.” In fact, the low-slung

home sits 100 feet back from the shoreline and, even with all lights blazing, would be hardly visible to the handful of neighbours who share the same small lakefront.

The client couple, both doctors from Toronto, both lovers of the outdoors, had been camping on the 37-acre property with its 1,300 feet of shoreline since they’d bought the place several years previously.

Graham and D’Elia began working on

Easy does it The orientation of the great room (shown in opposing views) affords everyone a glimpse of the great outdoors and a throughway straight from the master bedroom to the screened porch; an “oculus” skylight slices through the ceiling, allowing in an abundance of light and air. The kitchen’s practical minimalism is offset by the dreamy inclusion of an inset book-reading nook (below), complete with personal plate-glass window and natural-themed artwork. Warm cedar and cool grey form the main colour scheme, punctuated here and there with shots of apple green.

cabin concepts for them in 2006, discussing with the pair which layout would leave the least ecological imprint on the land. “We spent some time with the clients on-site,” Graham recalls, “getting the right orientation – the prevailing winds, views, sun, topography. We ate dinner with them in a tent in the pouring rain.” The designers also learned that they would have to reconcile the wife’s love of the modern

aesthetic with the husband’s desire for a traditional log cabin.

The answer presented itself serendipitously: “Andre saw an overturned old wooden boat nearby. We worked with that form. It’s a natural fit for this environment, a simple structure but with a lot of genius to it – a kind of formal efficiency.”

Like a boat that carves through the water yet leaves no trace of its passage

behind, the Stealth Cabin was crafted to disappear into the woods. Covered in cedar planks, shakes and shingles that will mellow bark-brown with age, its wide stern contains three bedrooms facing the forest. A blunted prow holds the screened dining room, ribbed with cedar slats to minimize the sight of any cars parked in the gravel driveway beyond, maintaining the illusion of timeless isolation. But it is July/August 2014 CANADIAN INTERIORS 25

Within and without The veiled mystery of the cedar-ribbed dining porch (shown opposite at day and at night) does not fully reveal itself until you enter the space; although its exterior represents the blunted prow of the cabin’s boat-inspired shape, the roof’s peak offers a more traditional, pointed-bow motif. The master bedroom (below), complete with built-in cedar accoutrements, sits two steps up from the kitchen. Floor-to-ceiling plate-glass windows overlook the forest, which is echoed in a fanciful “paper-cut” picture of a tree filled with birdhouses by Toronto artist Ed Pien.

in the broader central beam section where the real living takes place.

A contemporary open-concept kitchen and living room is lined, like the rest of the house, top to bottom with FSC-certified cedar boards, a satisfying nod to the log cabin craving. The bevelled ceiling stretches up at a steep angle from the nine-foot outer rim of sliding screen-andglass doorways to a 15-foot cathedral height, where a remote-control “oculus” skylight slices through the centre thickness. Sun and air stream down through this and along other axes to the point where, the wife says, “we rarely use the overhead fans in the summer.” On colder days, including in the winter when the couple use the year-round-access cottage as a retreat for cross-country skiing, guest quarters in the northern half of the house can be closed off via a sliding pocket door, to reduce energy consumption. Radiant heating under the main area’s lightly

polished concrete floor plus a high-efficiency wood-burning stove/fireplace by Stüv are all that are necessary to keep things cheerfully toasty.

In the rest of the Stealth Cabin’s small, cosy spaces – children’s, adult and master bedrooms, two bathrooms, a mudroom and tiny home-office tucked in beside it – the mimicry of a boat’s underside with all its obtuse slopes and angles becomes most noticeable. The painstaking feat of fitting each cedar board just so was handled by Wilson Project Management’s team of construction experts. Local landscape designer Shawn Gallaugher saw to it that each window opening frames both broad views and close-up focuses filled with attractive, non-invasive plants and native trees.

The intimate surroundings Superkül created suits the clients’ lifestyles right down to the ground on which their house rests so lightly. There is even a tent

platform positioned a touch closer to the lake, kitted out with a canvas yurt for extra guests or whenever the owners want to get even nearer to nature.

Still, there is such a sensory richness to the Stealth Cabin – so much light and air, so many beautiful sightlines, always the faint, evocative odour of cedarwood – that it’s hard to imagine spending time anywhere else. “It transports you,” says Graham, searching for the right words.

“You really feel like you’re there when you’re there.”

It appears many others too would like to experience this same inchoate feeling.

In the short while since making its public debut, the Stealth Cabin has been featured in several international publications and has already picked up two prestigious accolades: a 2013 Interior Design Best of Year Honoree and a 2014 Ontario Association of Architects Award of Design Excellence. c I July/August 2014 CANADIAN INTERIORS 27

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1—Days of Future Past Vatos is a fairly young Belgian brand aiming to make a splash in the world of wallcoverings. For example, its new Atomic collection contrasts shimmering matt or bright shiny colours against soft velvet backgrounds to elicit notions of some futuristic utopia that might have been imagined during the atomic age. vatos.be 2—Barely there The near-transparent fabrics of the Irisa Collection by Sahco Hesslein are a delicate interplay of light and shadow yet simultaneously reveal strong, expressive colours. The playful watercolour-like design created by countless flowers is printed onto a Trevira CS basic material using various techniques, such as high-speed digital printing, air lace and plissé designs to create the contrasts and generate a wonderful poetry at the same time. sahco-hesslein.com

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Coming on strong/soft Running the gamut at Heimtextil 2014.

—By Peter Sobchak The massive Heimtextil show presented an impressive panorama of home and contract textile design in Frankfurt this past January.

2,718 international exhibitors showed the latest pattern, material and technology trends that seemed to run the gamut from lively colours and shimmering lustre to subtle tones and Baroque inspirations.

Overall, the trend to more colour was obvious with expressive tones, and a love of nature (particularly flowers and blossoms of every kind and size, from a scattering of tiny little flowers to big picturesque blossoms à la Andy Warhol) was seen across a wide array of products.

Yet contrasting the burst of blooms at Heimtextil was a trend towards patterns with a contrasting dark background in anthracite, mocha or black, so you could have it both ways. Technology in many forms was also a dominant player, but often hidden from the eye. Fabrics and wallcoverings that actually help clean the air or kill germs are becoming more readily available, and of course the proliferation and progress of digital printing technology is opening up new design opportunities.

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Strong medicine 1—Imminent invasion Barcelona-based Desigual may not have any presence to speak of in Canada, but that will inevitably change. The fashion and home textile label is big in Europe right now, and is aggressively expanding across the globe. Beyond its extremely popular clothing lines, the firm is staking out a claim in the home textile world using the same focus on youth – tags like “Sex, Fun & Love” are everywhere – as seen in the For Everybody home collection. desigual.com 2—Tag team champs Global architecture behemoth Coop Himmel(b)lau and German textile mill Backhausen have teamed up to create a unique textile collection called Circles, and while the name is simple, the effect on furniture and other applications is decidedly not. With a choice of colours ranging from white to silver to black, the glittery effect is achieved with the use of a fine metallic yarn and lends a captivating 3D effect, referencing the curved outer surfaces on buildings designed by Coop Himmel(b)lau. backhausen.com 3—Down Under coming up KAS is an Australian home-furnishings brand that is also not very well known in Canada – yet. But with a decidedly fresh home fashion sense focusing on applying bright, playful colours to lifestyle products including bed linens, cushions, throws, towels and more, that should change soon. kasaustralia.com.au

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4—Hear no evil The fabric-covered Rossoacoustic TP 30 roompartitioning system – by Nimbus Group GmbH – is a coloured textile–based and acoustically effective space-structuring system, offering the necessary flexibility for concentrated or communicative working. It comes in both Knit and Wool versions. The low weight makes alteration of a space‘s layout easy. rosso-acoustic.com

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30 CANADIAN INTERIORS July/August 2014

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1—Chock-a-block Textile giant JAB Anstoetz brought over 150 new lines of window coverings to Heimtextil, all under the new 2014 Hemisphere panel collection.

The range is impressive, and at times confusing, but roughly breaks down into three groups – Paper Art, Design and Colours. For example Boardwalk, in the latter group, borrows wooden panel motifs in soft grey tones to cast an elegant design. jab.de 2—When light impregnates fabric From Swiss firm Création Baumann comes eLumino, a radiant new textile product with embroidered LED elements. Two curtain designs are currently available: Aves (a), a soft metallic, opaque weave, which can be sculptured and draped; and Sema (b), which dances freely in waves across the delicate and soft transparent voile. Both fabrics are available in white, an elegant grey and a deep warm brown tone. creationbaumann.com

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3—More real than real The clarity of digitally printed fabric and wallpaper patterns is getting more and more eye-popping, and companies like Architects Paper are pushing it as far as it will go.

Following the success of AP Digital introduced two years ago, the German firm launched the next version, Digital II, focusing on high-definition (HD) photographs and coloured scanned images on cellulose-based non-woven wallpaper and solvent-free inks. architects-paper.com 4—Lining the Enterprise Someone over at T47 needs to hire an ad agency, because T47 Bioactive Textile Wallcoverings is not a very sexy name. But the product itself is scooping up scads of innovation awards for its ability to actively clean a room’s air quality through catalytic metal salts imbedded in the tissues. This super-science textile also has fire-resistance capabilities and even noise reduction. The only thing it can’t do is beam you up. t47-wallcoverings.com

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July/August 2014 CANADIAN INTERIORS 31

Chaos theory Veteran Montreal designer Jean de Lessard gives Chez Carl Tapas & BBQ just the right amount of crazy.

—By Rhys Phillips Montreal’s bucolic L’Île-des-Soeurs, or Nuns’ Island, was the isolated island retreat of the venerable Congrégation religieuses de Notre-Dame for over 250 years until 1957. Only in 1962 was its St. Lawrence River “moat” breached by a direct link from the Champlain Bridge, and this remains the island’s sole connection to the Island of Montreal. Not Photography by Adrien Williams

surprisingly, this once quiet enclave for service-oriented nuns has emerged as a series of upscale bucolic garden city communities of detached homes and townhouses as well as luxury mid- and high rises. Multiple, elegantly landscaped traffic circles settle the traffic as it ambles down a series of curving boulevards. And these are boulevards in more than just

name. They boast well-maintained landscaping, perimeter lines of mature trees, and lush grass medians planted with their own trees and bushes. One boulevard even hosts Mies van der Rohe’s 1969 ultra-sophisticated gas station, which has undergone a governor general’s Award–winning adaptive restoration as a community centre. (Not to mention the

We’re all in this together A series of inserted raised platforms demarcated by waist-high maple walls creates a lively topology. These platforms create contained, asymmetrical islands of intimacy while allowing visual connection between areas, thus sustaining a community of diners. Overhead, an irregularly patterned canopy of pine is held up by ultra-slim steel columns. The mishmash of triangular shards gives the flat, floating ceiling plane a distinct kinetic feel.

great Man’s three 1962 apartment buildings on the Island.)

Not far from the Mies landmark, at 3000 Boulevard René-Lévesque, sits restaurateurs Corinna Pop and Carl Chevalier’s lively Chez Carl Tapas & BBQ, realized by veteran Montreal designer Jean de Lessard.

While Chez Carl occupies the base of a rather nondescript modern office building,

it sits back from the street and is raised moderately above by a landscaped bank. All this allows for a generous open-air terrace with a view across to a pleasant residential neighbourhood.

The modest ,1,229-square-feet eatery with just fewer than 70 seats, says de Lessard as we lunch on exquisite calamari among other tapas dishes, was originally

a French restaurant with a decidedly box-like, cafeteria feel that “cried out to be recoded.” Instead, he wants people, whether in an office, shop or restaurant, to feel strong emotions in his spaces and believes they relish at least a dollop of chaos. The owners, who he labels as dynamic clients, fortunately wanted something crazy and colourful that would JuLy/AuguST 2014 CANADIAN INTERIORS 33

The sum of its parts The long bar at the entrance (below) is a welcoming holdover from the previous restaurant. A freestanding, irregularly shaped “box” clad in light-fracturing copper (seen below and opposite) acts as a low-cost wine cellar while contributing to spatial definition.

serve as a fun environment. De Lessard also sees a need to reinforce what he calls the duality of the individual and the community. In a restaurant setting this means patterns of diverse space occupation that are manipulated to ensure diners have their own space but remain socially connected. Finally, both he and his clients wanted “something sexy yet comfortable enough for the more sedate local affluent patrons while also attractive to a new younger crowd.”

Despite Chez Carl’s relatively small size, de Lessard set out to “occupy the space architecturally” –­­ not surprising, as he had originally obtained an architecture technician diploma from Cégep de Lévis-Lauzon. To do so, he turned to his interest in Fractal Theory and its premise that forms, as they are recursively defined into ever-smaller sections, appear identical or at least similar to the larger ones of which they are a part. Add in the unexpected posited by Chaos Theory, however, and a simple beginning may result in considerable complexity.

More simply put, he adapts a physical language of fractured or “variable” geological-like geometries that are rearranged to produce discrete, physically irregular spaces to be inhabited within Chez Carl, all resulting in a sort of “programmed chaos.” Interestingly, one can see in his approach the idea of making present the fractured tectonic plates below that comprise the St. Lawrence Plain and slide under one another to generate periodic earthquakes in the area.

De Lessard set about to split apart the space, starting with the entrance, in order to create individualized dining spaces in which each is then “separately modified so there is a different feeling in each section.” First experienced is the restaurant’s entrance, a deep arch composed of 3D angled triangles that provides a clear transition from the terrace. Through the arch, one is confronted by a long bar, a welcoming holdover from the previous restaurant. Above, an irregularly patterned canopy of pine, held up by ultraslim steel columns, zigzags to the left and right. The mishmash of triangular shards gives the flat, floating ceiling plane a distinct kinetic feel.

Just as this treatment generates both animation and varied ceiling heights, a series of inserted raised platforms demarcated by waist-high maple walls creates a lively topology. These platforms create contained, asymmetrical islands of intimacy while allowing visual connection between areas, thus sustaining a community of diners. The use of hard and soft woods left in their natural tones, says de Lessard, is a deliberate nod to a Québécois identity with its forests. This, along with the gritty steel poles, provides a certain “raw materiality coupled with urban chic.”

Two of the platform pods are partially embraced by wall screens, what he calls “strucptures” or structure-sculptures, composed of angled plywood triangles covered in plush red, purple and pink Danish felt. In addition to their visual, tactile and space-defining roles, “these sculptural walls are as practical as they are aesthetic because of their decibel absorbing quality.” (De Lessard has no fear of strong colours as witnessed, for example, by his award-winning work for the communication firm Upperkut, the restaurant Raso, and the project software firm Sponsorium.)

A connecting wall tissue of floor-toceiling blackboards offsets these kinetic splashes of colour while serving as a convenient way of recording specials, new additions to the menu and featured wines.

You don’t need a huge budget to create flash and emotion, he says, pointing to a freestanding, irregularly shaped “box” clad in light-fracturing copper that acts as the restaurant’s low-cost wine cellar while also contributing to spatial definition.

Light from the restaurant’s large, curtainfree windows creates patterns on the shiny metal that fluctuate as the light changes or the patron moves.

Chez Carl Tapas & BBQ, modest in size but determined to sizzle, provides a destination hot spot in a cool suburban neighbourhood. c I

July/August 2014 CANADIAN INTERIORS 35

Less clown, more coffee Do polished stone floors, sleek white tables, a wooden-slat ceiling and tranquil lighting make you think of McDonald’s? They will now.

—By Peter Sobchak You are relaxing in a soft leather-upholstered café chair, sipping your mocha whatever, and staring at flames leaping in a stylish fireplace built into a finely detailed wooden wall. To your left is a college student transfixed by her laptop; to your right is a businessman doing the same as you, except instead of a trendy coffee beverage he’s tucking into…a Big Mac? That’s when you remember that you’re sitting in a McDonald’s. And that experience tells the global fast-food giant that its metamorphosis is successful.

Whether we realized it or not, over the years we all got used to the look and feel of a McDonald’s restaurant: a kid-centred atmosphere dominated by a bright colour 36 CANADIAN INTERIORS July/August 2014

palette suggestive of the red-and-yellow arches, and anchored by durable and easily cleaned but definitely uncomfortable fiberglass tables and steel chairs. And of course that ubiquitous clown named Ronald. But McD’s has been working hard to shed those old expectations. Walk into one now and there’s a good chance it has been touched by a massive $1-billion nationwide reimaging initiative marked by the biggest store-by-store makeover in McDonald’s Restaurants of Canada Limited’s history.

As of mid-2014, the reimaging program is about 77 per cent complete across the company’s network of 1,400 restaurants (even more among the freestanding

traditional restaurants, approximately 86 per cent), and includes more than just rebranding: it tackles everything from back-of-house kitchen operations to menu offerings. “Over our 44-year history, fragmentation began to creep in among the individual restaurants, so this program is attempting to put every restaurant on the same platform,” says Neel Rughani, director of Construction for McDonald’s Canada. Despite a vast array of building types and ages, “this is an attempt to get some kind of brand consistency across the whole Canadian network,” he says.

Achieving a national brand consistency across 1,400 stores that also incorporates Photography by John Goldstein

Opposite Downtown Toronto is home to Ontario’s largest McDonald’s restaurant, located at 356 Yonge Street, only a couple blocks from Ryerson University’s soon-to-be game-changing Student Learning Centre designed by Snøhetta, as well as the vibrant landmark of Dundas Square. It sports the “blade & ribbon” signature exterior element that originated in Australia; the bright red marquee and lighting are intended to draw people in from the street. Above Slicing through reclaimed sections of the building’s original ceiling, the red ribbon bulkhead continues into the restaurant and acts as a directional tool leading patrons to the order area.

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Opposite The 9,000-square-foot restaurant represents the flagship of Form Moments, McDonald’s Canada’s most urban-inflected interior design package. With communal seating prevalent throughout, different zones are accented in ways that encourage different behaviour. For example, a punchy style using “bird’s nest” graphics and high or bench seating suggest fast dining, while café chairs and warm timber panels framing a fireplace encourage lingering. Below Customer flow and circulation are very important in such a large space: visual lines of sight to the order area are clear, followed by “dual order points” to handle high volumes of traffic. A dedicated pick-up area and beverage station terminate the circuit next to stairs or ground floor seating; the stick lights - a feature unique to this location - are intended to help draw attention to the upper floor.

some level of regionalism isn’t easy, and the genesis of the solution ended up coming, surprisingly, from a conference where other national networks had assembled to share best-practices – something McDonald’s is very good at. It was at this conference, says Rughani, they were introduced to what McDonald’s Australia has been doing with its reimaging. Down Under adopted several strong new designs, such as an exterior “blade & ribbon” motif, as well as two interior packages: Allegro, with a soft, suburban look, and Form, which attempted to capture the more energetic urban feel of a large city. Form was originally created by Sydney-based Juicy Design, and was such a hit the firm was asked to take the design palette and introduce it to other markets around the world.

Hence the conference. “The Big Mac wasn’t invented in a laboratory, it was invented by an operator. It’s similar with design,” says Rughani. “If there is something interesting going on in the world of design, it gets discussed at the global level and then brought back to the local level.” Naturally the first step at that local level is McDonald’s Canada’s in-house design staff, which number, perhaps surprisingly, only three (Rughani included). So while they set the tone, external firms are brought in to help work on the projects. Outside of a few unique situations, the national design map is currently divided among three groups: Ron Vornbrock with Reprise Design handles everything west of Ontario; Turner Fleischer Architects does Ontario; and Montreal-based Manon Renaud deals with everything east. “Because they are not competing for restaurants, they have become regional experts,” says Rughani.

After modifying Form and Allegro for the Canadian market, the teams also came up with a third interiors package: Main Street, which is intended to serve smaller, more rural towns. In all three packages, the design teams “localized” much of it, including material choices, colour palettes, furniture, fixtures and other elements in order to address each of the markets. Form was unleashed onto the Canadian landscape in 2010 when a new stand-alone restaurant was built in Toronto as a “demonstrator” to get feedback from vendors and franchisees, and since then

has been tweaked and modified as McDonald’s inches closer to understanding the new direction it wants to take.

The apotheosis of this transformation can now be seen in a newly opened flagship restaurant that represents McDonald’s’ new vision of itself. Clothed in the Form Moments package, it represents the newest version of Form in Canada (think Form 2.0), and is also now the largest restaurant in Ontario. Located near the corner of Yonge and Elm streets in downtown Toronto, it radiates a strong urban design language, which isn’t surprising given its proximity to Ryerson University’s soon-to-be game-changing Student Learning Centre by Snøhetta; as well as Dundas Square, a landmark McDonald’s has been trying to put a street-level location next to for a while.

Remarkably spacious considering its downtown location, the nearly 9,000-square-foot restaurant spans two levels and seats 259 guests. Within this expansive space a zoning concept has been implemented: a “fast” zone utilizes high tables bookended by flat-screen TVs, and caters to single business people in need of a quick meal; the “communal” zone handles larger groups and families; while the “linger” zone encourages exactly that, with café chairs, fireplaces and warmer tones. Punctuating throughout this are dark, tasteful booths and counter seating contrasted by clusters of red and yellow plush seating. Zoning continues in the order area, and creating a completely independent McCafé coffee bar sends a clear signal that embracing the coffee culture customer has become a vital pillar in their business plans.

While it would be inaccurate to suggest that McDonald’s is completely divorcing itself from a style and flavour that has characterized its restaurants for the past few decades, it is clear to see that when the world’s largest fast-food chain replaces mascots and ball pits with fireplaces, flat-screen televisions and free WiFi, they see a different future on the horizon. Maybe that famous clown is feeling a certain mermaid nipping at his heels. c I

July/August 2014 CANADIAN INTERIORS 39

Who’s Who

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Fresher than springtime —Text and photos by David Lasker 1

DIAMOND SCHMITT SUMMER SOLSTICE At Stonehenge, they celebrate summer solstice with Druid rituals. Here, le tout Toronto – politicians, academics, businesspeople – turns out for the annual late-June bash of Diamond Schmitt Architects (DSA). This year’s (crowded) venue was Daniels Spectrum, formerly the Regent Park Arts and Cultural Centre, designed by the firm.

1—DSA’s Kristin Apeth and Kavitha Jayakrishnan, architectural interns, and Jenna Barrie, administrative project co-ordinator; Sam Schmitt, a recent Concordia University fine-arts grad and oil painter; and his dad, Diamond Schmitt partner Donald Schmitt.

2—Victoria Angel, senior heritage planner, ERA Architects; host Jack Diamond; John Emery, president, Fairmont Properties, the custom-home builder whose new condo will house the Diamonds; Emery’s daughter and Ryerson design student, Brittany; and Jack’s wife, Gillian.

ROLLOUT AT HOLLACE CLUNY Hollace Cluny threw its doors open at Designers Walk to celebrate its new showroom, products and partnerships, including its exclusive wallcoverings collection designed by Robert Sangster and manufactured by Rollout.

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MAKING CONTACT AT HAWORTH Haworth hosted an opening-night party for the Contact Photography Festival in May, featuring the “Nocturnal Still” series by photographer and Figure3 team leader Steve Tai.

1—Christopher Deboer, principal at interior architecture firm Sybrandt Creative; television design personality Tommy Smyth, wearing polka dots complementing those of the wallpaper from Rollout, which provided wallcoverings throughout the showroom; and Cameron MacNeil of his eponymous design firm.

2—Hollace Cluny staffers Dick Webster, the visual consultant who styled the showroom; owner Susan Fowlie; and Julia Ogier and Kathy Janules, sales and design.

1—We are Haworth: Mike Goulet, global accounts manager; Jody Goodenough, senior A&D market manager; Dean Morgan, senior project manager; Jessica Butler, project co-ordinator; Kristi Schweizer, senior business development manager; Yoel Berznoger, senior A&D manager; LeiLei Sun Kendrew, A&D associate; Susan Carpenter, business development director; and Paul Van Camp, senior business development manager.

2—In front of Steve Tsai’s photos: Steve Tsai’s wife, Anita Chen, creative director, Anita Chen Designs; his mother, Lillian Tsai; his boss, interior designer Christopher Wright, principal, Figure3; and the man of the hour himself.

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40 CANADIAN INTERIORS JULY/AUGUST 2014

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That Was Then

Here’s the Beef A blast from my past.

—By Michael Totzke I thought I’d never see it again. But there – on page 32 of the July 1978 issue of Canadian Interiors – it is: the Great West Beef Co. in Waterloo, Ont., dubbed by CI “With-It Disco/ Restaurant.” I came upon it last summer when I was combing through 50 years of bound issues in preparation for our special anniversary issue (November/December 2013).

I thought of the lyrics to “In My Life,” my fave Beatles song: “There are places I remember / All my life though some have changed / Some forever not for better / Some have gone and some remain.”

I remember the Great West Beef Co. all too well and, I’m relieved to say, it is long gone (that is, I’m glad it’s long gone from my life). I worked at the Beef (as we called it) in 1976-77, first as a dishwasher, then busboy, then waiter. I found washing dishes hot and humiliating; bussing tables harrowing and humiliating; waiting tables horrifying and humiliating. I stayed the course, disgruntled worker I was, determined to make as much money as I could to see me through a year of theatre school – beginning in September 1977 – at the Drama Studio in London, England. I hated just about every minute of it.

The callow, stage-struck youth of 20 I was at the time recognized the beauty of the Beef, though.

Designed by Moffat Moffat and Kinoshita (Toronto and Hamilton), and unlike anything in KitchenerWaterloo, it seemed the essence of ’70s cool.

Expanses of warm-coloured stained cedar? Check.

Low-level mood lighting? Check. A profusion of ferns? Check. Most importantly to me, it had a theatrical feel to it, with steps up from the central area of bar, grill and salad bar to several separate dining levels, where one or two waiters held court.

By the time the July 1978 issue of CI came out, I had enjoyed a whirlwind four months at theatre school; turned 21 in one of the great cities of the world, feted by a bunch of aspiring young actors from around the world; auditioned for and was hired by the Stratford Festival; and found myself treading the boards of another great Ontario interior, the storied Festival Theatre (despite many changes over the years, its revolutionary thrust stage, designed by Tanya Moiseiwitsch in 1952, has never lost its essential character).

But that’s another story. c I 42 CANADIAN INTERIORS JULY/AUGUST 2014

Perfectly rare The Great West Beef Co. was well seasoned on the outside (Douglas fir structural trusses and stained-cedar siding), tender within (light-coloured materials, warm lighting and fresh asparagus ferns).

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