Canadian Interiors: September/October 2009 Edition

September/October 2009

Working well 3 hip, healthy offices NeoCon’s greatest hits

CEILING&WALL

SYSTEMS Between us, ideas become reality ™

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uncluttered and uncompromised TechZone™ Ceiling Systems let you get rid of unwanted clutter by organizing lighting fixtures, diffusers and sprinklers in linear technical zones.

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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. As a company we have a proven strength in working with designers and architects. We take your vision on paper and translate it into reality through a collaborative process in which our clients' needs are seen as paramount. Over the years we have demonstrated our ability to handle the most demanding projects, executing contracts on time and in a professional manner.

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O U R F L A M E , Y O U R PA S S I O N .

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September/October 2009

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43

COVER — 26 MMM Group headquarters, designed by Modo.

Photo by Richard Johnson

Contents

49

70

FEATURES

Working Well

DEPARTMENTS INSIDE – 10

MISSION STATEMENT — 26 Modo’s methodical design of the MMM Group’s world headquarters reveals what the engineering giant stands for.

By John Bentley Mays

WHAT’S UP — 13 PREVIEW — 18 25 and counting

STYLE AND SUBSTANCE — 33 Van Elslander Carter Architects makes over a modelling agency’s office, creating a space that balances function with fashion.

By Karolina Olechnowicz

33

Celebrating a quarter century, IIDEX/NeoCon Canada looks to the future.

By Michael Totzke

SHOW BIZ — 20 Mock on wood

WALKING THE WALK — 38 As befits an incubator of green ideas, Toronto’s new Sustainable Studio is the very model of a modern green office.

By Heather MacKay

LIGHT SOURCE — 49 Who better to design a showroom for Montreal’s Eklipse than the owner himself, lighting designer and manufacturer André Pallai?

By Rhys Phillips

ON THE PLUS SIDE — 43 Despite a disappointing turnout – and in part because of it – NeoCon ’09 was more than memorable.

By Michael Totzke

LESS IS MORE — 54 A minimal design with flexible spaces and site-specific materials makes this house an ideal home for a young West Coast family.

By Janet Collins

LAST WORD — 70

It wasn’t what it looked like at the 2009 edition of Coverings, in Chicago.

By Erin Donnelly

WHO’S WHO — 68

Foreign exchange

The Canadian presence at ICFF was small but enlightening.

By David Sokol

beyond flooring beyond flooring’s extensive designer collection of floor and wall coverings bring together the true essence of form and function in an invigorating 8,000 square foot showroom.

Setember/October 2009 VOL.46 NO.6

Publisher

Martin Spreer Editor

Michael Totzke Managing Editor

Erin Donnelly Associate Editors

Janet Collins, David Lasker, Rhys Phillips, Leslie C. Smith Contributing Writer

Heather MacKay, John Bentley Mays, Karolina Olechnowicz, David Sokol Art Direction/Design

Ellie Robinson, Lisa Zambri Advertising Sales

416-510-6766 Natalie Quammie Marketplace/Classified 416-510-5198 Circulation Manager

beyond flooring recognizes

Beata Olechnowicz 416-442-5600, ext. 3543

that quality, selection and service are the most crucial considerations when making a floor or wall covering purchase. We offer hundreds of porcelain, glass and stone choices.

Liz Callaghan

beyond your expectations MOSAICS PORCELAIN CERAMIC SLATE MARBLE LIMESTONE HARDWOOD COUNTERTOPS

Reader Services Production

Jessica Jubb 416-510-5194 Senior Publisher

Tom Arkell Vice President of Canadian Publishing

Alex Papanou President of Business Information Group

Bruce Creighton Head Office

12 Concorde Place, Suite 800 Toronto, ON M3C 4J2 Telephone 416-442-5600 Facsimile 416-510-5140 Canadian Interiors magazine is published by Business Information Group, a division of BIG magazines LP, Tel: 416-442-5600, Fax: 416-510-6875 e-mail: info@canadianinteriors.com website: www.canadianinteriors.com Canadian Interiors publishes seven 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 $30.95 per year; plastic wrapped $32.95 per year (plus taxes) U.S.A. $41.95 US per year, Overseas $46.95 US per year.

Back issues Back copies are available for $10 for delivery in Canada and $15 US for delivery in U.S.A. and overseas. Please send payment to Canadian Interiors, 12 Concorde Place, Suite 800, Toronto, ON M3C 4J2 or order online www.canadianinteriors.com For subscription and back issues inquiries please call 416-442-5600 ext.3543, e-mail: circulation@canadianinteriors.com, or go to our website at: www.canadianinteriors.com Newsstands For information on Canadian Interiors on ­newsstands in Canada, call 905-619-6565 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).

CASTLEFIELD DESIGN DISTRICT 1200 Castlefield Avenue (just west of Dufferin St.) Toronto, Ontario M6B 1G2

416-850-1045 www.beyondflooring.com

Member of Canadian Business Press Member of the Audit Bureau of Circulations

ISSN 0008-3887 G.S.T.#890939689RT0001 Glacier BIG Holdings Company Ltd. Customer Number: 2014319 Canada Post Sales Product Agreement No. 40069240 We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Publications Assistance Program towards our mailing costs.

PAP Registration No. 11092

KOHLER: As I See It, #92 in a series “Elegant ablutions. Pre-departure.”

SUITE: FountainheadTM — toilet, lavatory and faucet, vanity and seat with mirror ARTIST: Mark Holthusen 1- 800 - 4 - KOHLER kohler.com/fountainheadca

©2009 Kohler Co.

Inside

Works for us What will they think of next? In this instance, the “they” I refer to are the good people at Herman Miller, who, at neoCon this past June, introduced embody, trumpeted as “the first work chair to support both mind and body” (see my neoCon report, “on the plus side,” on page 43). Impressive. But can this chair really, as Herman Miller claims, improve blood flow; facilitate the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide within cells; and open up the chest cavity, letting the lungs take in more air and send more oxygen to the brain? Where’s the proof?

Whatever it does and doesn’t do, embody – with its “instinctive” back that automatically conforms to the user’s every movement – is exceedingly comfortable. What’s more, it’s made from nontoxic and sustainable materials (with 42 per cent recycled content) and is 95 per cent recyclable. Hyperbole aside, embody is representative of the contract furnishing field’s ongoing commitment to workplace health and to the health of the planet.

Increasingly, firms of all stripes are demonstrating a similar commitment in regard to their own workplaces. As a result, the office is becoming a much healthier, happier, more human place to be. In this issue we feature three such offices.

First up is the world headquarters of engineering giant MMM Group (“Mission statement,” page 26), designed by Modo after a full graphics and branding strategy. Aiming for LeeD Gold (certification is still pending), this six-storey, 137,000-square-foot, $20-million project is as sophisticated as it is sustainable. next is Van elslander Carter Architects’ makeover of an outdated office for Ford Models (“style and substance,” page 33). As befits a modelling agency, the low-budget, environmentally conscious result is sexy, stylish and beautifully lit.

Finally, we come to the Innovolve Group’s sustainable studio, designed by HoK (“Walking the walk,” page 38). An incubator of green ideas, the comfortable, light-filled studio is intelligently, affordably, authentically green. c I Michael totzke mtotzke@canadianinteriors.com

anInt0809:metropolis2009

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Page 1

Architect: Jim Denno Photo: Ken Kast

10 CAnADIAn INTERIORS sePteMBeR/oCtoBeR 2009

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What’s Up

SEPT./OCT. Reich + biodiversity + Petch How to tell a big story in a small space – that was the challenge facing Reich + Petch Design International in designing the new Schad Gallery of Biodiversity at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM).

Located in the historic part of the building on the second floor, what Reich + Petch had to work with is essentially a corridor linking galleries from the domed Rotunda to the west wing. At 10,000 square feet it is indeed a compact space in which to present more than 2,500 specimens.

Says Anthony Reich, principal of Reich + Petch, “We decided to design a dynamic, totally immersive experience with three core themes that hope-

fully will make a lasting impact on visitors: life is amazingly diverse; life is intriguingly interconnected by invisible threads; and life is at risk – a growing reality.”

Key to the wide-open design are special oversized, doubleglazed glass cases built in Germany to accommodate specimens, including live displays. Angular, slightly askew, not square, they are meant to evoke the ROM’s Michael Lee-Chin Crystal. Overhead cases, along with overhead models, help to reserve space; so do shelves displaying specimens in glass jars, atop a series of “discovery” drawers where visitors can closely examine the vast diversity of species.

Where most museums are

moving away from live material, the Schad Gallery includes the Coral Reef, a spectacular saltwater aquarium (a microenvironment on a 24-hour light cycle, it took six months to establish), and a leaf-cutter ant colony.

Each display contains photos and materials illustrating damage to the environment by man. Additional information is provided through 12 touchscreen terminals with 150 spe-

cially created videos on species that are endangered, extinct or at risk.

In addition to state-of-theart technology, Reich + Petch made a special effort to use recycled and sustainable products. Plyboo, bamboo-based plywood that resembles exotic hardwood, covers the outside of the display cases. Along the main corridor, cases are lined with PaperStone, a stone lookalike made from recycled office paper. As well, energy-saving LED lighting is used throughout the gallery.

“The ROM’s extensive natural history collections and our curators’ on-going research in Life Sciences has always been a source of pride for the institution,” says William Thorsell, ROM director and CEO. ”Now with the spectacular Schad Gallery, we can demonstrate our strengths and engage people of all ages in the urgent need to protect Earth’s species and ecosystems.”

Left More than 2,500 specimens are on display at the Royal Ontario Museum’s Schad Gallery of Biodiversity. Oversized, double-glazed glass cases – angular and slightly askew – are meant to evoke the ROM’s Michael Lee-Chin Crystal. Above At 10,000 square feet, the gallery is relatively compact. Overhead cases help to reserve space.

Below The Coral Reef, a spectacular saltwater aquarium.

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009 CANADIAN INTERIORS 13

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Dotcom modern “It came about from a frustration of not being able to afford the B&B Italia I drooled over in the showrooms, and not knowing where I could find it secondhand – and more within my budget.” So recalls Melanie Carson of founding Lushpad, an online buy-and-sell marketplace for secondhand mid-century modern furniture, accessories and related objects sought by vintage collectors and interested dabblers alike, along with secondary-market contemporary art. Now a year old, the site averages 33,000 unique visitors a month – mostly from North America, with user concentration in California, British Columbia, Ontario, New York and Texas.

“We’re all about democratizing design, making it accessible for everyone,” says Carson, a B.C.-based graphic designer and creative director. “Anyone can list on the site – you don’t have to be a retailer or dealer.”

Lushpad.com’s listings are paid: items between $250 and $800 cost $8; items over $800

Says Melanie Carson, owner of Lushpad, “It was in my early 20s that I fell in love with mid-century modern furniture and the whole retro vernacular.”

cost $12. Items worth up to $250 are free to list. Want ads are also free.

Lushpad’s ads are monitored by the users themselves.

If an ad is reported to be inaccurate, measures are taken to rectify the situation, including – if necessary – banning a lister from the site. All transactions happen between the buyer and the seller, though Lushpad will provide shipping agent resources if needed.

“I guess you could call Lushpad part gallery, part auction house and part design magazine,” writes Carson on her site. “It’s about finding and living with beautiful – and affordable – things.”

are you eco intelligent?

Just add Salt One of our favourite “glass masters,” Joel Berman of Vancouver-based Joel Berman Glass Studios, has come up with another winner: Salt, a new category of flat glass surfacing for interior and exterior architecture and design. This innovative granulated material is made from new or recycled glass cullet – that has been coloured with pigments and fused to sheets of flat glass to form dyed glass panels.

Available in four different grain sizes and 32 intermixable colours, Salt works well as exterior cladding for building walls, and its natural slip resistance makes it an excellent surfacing material for floors.

Panel thicknesses vary from 6 to 22 millimemetres, depending on the grain size selected.

Shapes can be arranged prior to firing for custom designs.

Script and logos can be either placed in raised forms or integrated within a single plane.

“Salt offers a colourful way

to communicate in glass,” says Berman, who has been a pioneering artist in glass for more than 25 years. “The granular structure mutes the surface and extends an alternative to glass’s usual glossy sheen.”

Products can only be as sustainable as the materials and processes used to make them. That’s why we created Eco Intelligence® — a smarter way of thinking.

Our goals are quite simple: to design products that benefit the environment in every phase of their production and use, offering fabrics that reduce their impact on our shared natural resources.

Eco Intelligent ® brand fabrics meet established criteria for: • Product and Material Transparency • Chemical and Material Safety • Recyclability or Recycled Content • Renewable Energy and Resource Efficiency

Above Salt, the latest offering from Joel Berman Glass Studios, is an innovative flat glass surfacing.

Top A wall of Salt in the Joel Berman showroom at Chicago’s NeoCon.

Eco Intelligent® fabrics are manufactured by Victor, a leader in eco-engineering for over ten years. They are available from leading furniture manufacturers and fabric distributors. Find them at VictorGroup. com and see what it means to be Eco Intelligent.®

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What’s Up

Leon’s in the round As part of its 100th anniversary this year, Leon’s Furniture – the Canadian home furnishings chain – has opened a Leon’s store like no other. In this case, location is everything: it’s in Toronto’s historic John Street Roundhouse, a semi-circular structure built in the late 1920s and formerly used by Canadian Pacific to service trains.

Leon’s first large downtown store offers 40,000 square feet of modern furniture, electronics and appliances on one floor.

Completed as part of a $25-million rejuvenation of the Roundhouse area, the store was created by a team of many people: the IBI Group’s heritage architects; Leon’s architects, Turner Fleisher; mechanical and electrical engi-

Leon’s newest store is located in Toronto’s historic John Street Roundhouse, once used to service trains. Every effort was made to preserve the building’s 32-foot-high ceilings, wooden beams, floor-to-ceiling windows and train-track foundation.

neer consultant MCW; interior design consultant Danielle Josette Design; LEED consultant Green Reason Inc.; and the John Street Roundhouse Development Corporation.

Every effort was made to preserve the Roundhouse Building – complete with

16 CANADIAN INTERIORS SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009

32-foot-high ceilings, wooden beams, floor-to-ceiling windows and train-track foundation – while balancing the requirements of the Leon’s store. Every fixture is clamped in space to ensure that the historic wooden framing isn’t compromised, and the unique

poured and polished concrete floor can be lifted without harm to the retired train tracks below. Leon’s even revised the landlord’s original plan for a mezzanine in order to preserve the building’s spectacular sightlines.

The result is a loftlike 40,000-square-foot space that showcases the Roundhouse and its stunning views of the Toronto skyline as much as the furniture. c I

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Preview

25 and counting Celebrating a quarter century as a going concern this year, IIDEX/NeoCon Canada looks to the future.

—By Michael Totzke

Turning 25 in 2009, IIDEX/NeoCon Canada – the country’s most comprehensive exposition and conference for the design, construction and management of the built environment – is more concerned with the future than the past. There will, of course, be a 25th-anniversary exhibit of IIDEX Innovation Award–winning products at the Direct Energy Centre, home to the show on Sept. 24 and 25. But the theme for 2009 – IIDEX: The Next Twenty Five – puts the emphasis on the latest and most in-depth products, speakers, ideas and events that will shape the next quarter century of design and architecture in Canada and beyond.

The show’s main focus remains the introduction of new products. A new floor plan will be home to more than 350 exhibitors – including DIRTT Environmental Solutions, Inscape, InterfaceFLOR, Modernweave, Nienkämper, Tayco and Teknion.

This year’s special features include the Green Building Festival, Material World, the Light Canada Expo and Conference, and the Green Patient Lab. IIDEX and the Green Building Festival (which was created in 2005) have forged a strategic partnership to create the most comprehensive exposition focused on sustainable products and services for the built environment. Highlights include visionary keynotes, panels and presentations; a roster of CEU-accredited sustainability seminars; and a tour of a local green design project.

18 CANADIAN INTERIORS SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009

Clockwise from above left Industrial designer Stephen Burks; lighting artist Stephen Knapp; Confetti, from the Origins line of decorative material (made from post-consumer detergent bottles), by Yemm & Hart; meshglass exterior decor surfacing; Concete Cloth (which once hydrated is workable for two hours and remains flexible), developed by Concrete Canvas.

Material World showcases the latest new and sustainable materials from emerging Canadian and international companies. This year, Material World will premiere a special interactive exhibit entitled Think:Material, created specifically for IIDEX. Attendees will be able to see, touch and experience over 50 innovative new materials.

Sponsored by the Toronto chapter of the Illuminating Engineering Society (IES), Light Canada is the country’s largest lighting expo and conference. With over 100 Canadian and international exhibitors, it showcases the latest in interior, exterior, commercial and architectural lighting products, plus lamps and lighting controls. Acclaimed American light artist Stephen Knapp, this year’s Lighting Keynote speaker, will unveil a 12-by-24-inch state-of-the-art installation.

Incorporating visitor feedback from 10 international trade shows – plus private viewings from healthcare practitioners, facility managers, designers and senior managers – 2008’s Green Patient Room returns to IIDEX as the Green Patient Lab. Improvements include a new overall design and a media wall featuring the latest medical technology enhancements.

Always a big draw at IIDEX are keynote speakers from Canada and around the world. This year there are four, covering Lighting, Design, Business and Environment.

Stephen Knapp (Lighting) has been

producing lightpaintings – formed at the intersection of painting, sculpture and architecture – for decades, gaining an international reputation for large-scale works of pure radiance. Knapp will discuss the development of lightpaintings; he’ll also examine the impact light art could have on the art and architecture of the future, and how it could change the way we design our buildings.

Stephen Burks (Design), the founder of New York–based Readymade Projects, is one of the most sought-after industrial designers of his generation. He uses every project opportunity to bridge the gap between the luxury brands he works with and his passionate commitment to design with a conscience. Burks will explore hybrid design as an agent of social change.

Martack1a-AB 8/12/09 3:50 PM Page 1 Bertrand Cesvet (Business) is chairman and senior partner at Sid Lee, a creativeservices company with more than 300

employees and collaborators, known as “artisans,” spread across Montreal, Amsterdam and Paris. He will demonstrate commercial creativity in action, presenting Sid Lee’s work for Adidas Originals, which spans multiple consumer touch points, from store design to mass and interactive communications.

Enrique Peñalosa (Environment) is one of the world’s most visionary politicians; in his short tenure as mayor of Bogotá, Columbia (1998–2001), he transformed the city profoundly. Now a consultant on urban vision and sustainability strategy, Peñalosa will focus on sustainable mobility as a tool for achieving social equity.

All this plus special receptions, galas, tours and award ceremonies. The latter includes – for the first time ever – Canadian Interiors’ own Best of Canada Design Awards. The 12th annual awards ceremony promises to be a highlight of IIDEX. c I

IIDEX/NeoCon Canada runs at the Direct Energy Centre, Exhibition Place, Sept.

24 and 25.

Top Basking in the light at the 2007 Light Canada Expo and Conference, sponsored by the Toronto chapter of the Illuminating Engineering Society.

Above Breakout session during 2008’s Green Building Festival. This year, IIDEX and Green Building have forged a strategic partnership.

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Show Biz

Mock on wood It wasn’t what it looked like at the 2009 edition of Coverings, in Chicago.

—By Erin Donnelly

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The hottest ticket in tiles of late is tiles that don’t look like tiles. Tiles that look like wood are particularly popular, as sustainability becomes more and more of a style influence. And these trendy tiles don’t just look like wood, they feel like wood. At the 2009 edition of Coverings, at Chicago’s McCormick Place in April, it seemed every other booth had at least one mock-wood offering. And then there were the textile lookalikes. And the ceramic faux animal hides. And with each tile that looks like something else, people want to know if it feels like that something else. That’s where things get a little strange.

If you stop and really look around a tile show, it’s kind of hilarious. Think about it: a bunch of designers, architects and media cram into a display of tile and then all, without fail, immediately set upon rubbing the walls, floors and every other tiled surface within reach. Dozens of seemingly normal adults, carefully studying walls, slowly running one hand across the surface, with a glass of champagne in the other. Crouched down, stroking the floor, ducking the heels of the oblivious tile gazers above. I’ve often wondered (particularly while looking around in one of the darker, closed-off booths) how many hits I’d get on Youtube with a video of this. I’d call it Tile Fetish.

Unfortunately, you had to be there to cop a feel. If only I could create a Pat the Bunny version of this show report, but alas, in these pages you can look but you can’t touch. Though you can always scrounge up your own samples to pet.

3

1-Gardenia Orchidea Onice is a new tile collection featuring Swarovski crystals in the decorative elements. The tiles are created using a patented technique that inserts the crystals directly into the ceramic tile, to invoke a warm, iridescent light. The collection includes wall and floor tiles in a variety of colour choices. www.gardenia.it

2-Mapei Kerapoxy Design is a new two-component decorative expoxy mortar for grout joints.

Acid-resistant and ideal for vitreous mosaic, it can also be used as an adhesive. Available in eight colours, it may be mixed with up to 10 per cent by weight of MapeGlitter, metallized coloured glitter, to create particular special effects. www.mapei.com

20 CANADIAN INTERIORS SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009

3-Imola Ceramica The Strobus series offers a near-perfect reproduction of wood in a ceramic tile.

The five-colour range uses a digital technology called Colour Definition System to replicate the depth, colour and definition of real wood, right down to the individual veins. Available in five colours. www.imolaceramica.it

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Show Biz

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1-Royal Mosa The XXS collection is a range of ceramic mosaic tiles in Mosa’s most popular colours, Terra Maetricht and Beige & Brown.

Designed with a thickness to match the companies other large-size wall and floor tiles, the line includes XXS 90, which is coloured all the way through, allowing tiles to be used around corners. www.mosa.nl

2-Del Conca The Rover collection combines the impact resistance and durability of porcelain tile 22 CANADIAN INTERIORS SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009

with the warmth of wood. Manufactured in a 15-by-20-centimetre size, even the format brings to mind traditional handplaned boards. Available in oak, walnut and wenge versions, as well as a variety of colours. www.delconca.com 3-Ragno The Textile collection uses inkjet technology to combine the hardness and durability of porcelain tile with the softness of fabric. This tactile collection features stratified, grid-like and even three-dimensional designs, like Rattan (shown). Floor and

wall tiles are included in the collection. www.ragnousa.com

4-Lea Slimtech exhibits the amazing technological advances that have influenced tile manufacturing in recent years. Through a rolling and compression technique, these 300-by-100-centimetre stoneware porcelain tiles are able to be produced at a 3-millimetre thickness that is still resistant, flexible and easy to install. www.ceramichelea.com

Show Biz

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1-La Platera Konick is a new tile from the Kubik collection, which is perfect, particularly in this turquoise colour, for applications in spa areas, around the pool, bathroom or even in a kitchen. Available in 0.8-by-1.3, 0.8-by-19.7 or 0.6-by-39.4-inch formats, Konick is available in a range of solid colours. www.laplatera.es 2-Rex The Ma Touche collection offers four different hide-inspired textures: Cuir, Peau, 24 CANADIAN INTERIORS SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009

Eleph and Croco (shown), each offering different tactile qualities. Each is available in Ivoire, Mou, Tabac and Charbon, in a 24-by-24-inch size, a 2-by-2-inch mosaic (on 12-by-12-inch mesh) or in an 8-by-24inch strip bar. www.florim.it 3-Interstyle Stratus is one of the recent introductions from Burnaby, B.C.’s Interstyle. Decorative prints are fused onto the glass tiles, intended for both floor and wall applications. All patterns are available in 12-by-

12 and 16-by-16-inch styles, with three other sizes in select patterns. Custom versions are also available. www.interstyle.ca 4-Tau Colore is a response to a demand for more tile options for facades, exteriors and other large surface applications. The line includes eight shades with a range from bright colours to neutral tone, adding up to over a thousand possible combinations.

Sizes are 40 by 40 and 60 by 60 centimetres. www.tauceramic.net

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Working Well

Mission statement Modo’s methodical design of the MMM Group’s world headquarters reveals what the engineering giant stands for. ­—By John Bentley Mays

26 CANADIAN INTERIORS SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009

Photography by Richard Johnson

Opposite The ceiling and reception desk – made of reclaimed birch from the waters of Georgian Bay – warm up the main reception area. A custom light-box showcases MMM Group projects. This page Beyond reception is the ground-floor meeting room.

With its gleaming glass office towers and its broad, well-kept lawns, the office park that winds along Commerce Valley Drive West in the Toronto suburb of Thornhill radiates a look admired by many whitecollar enterprises these days: modern and efficient, uncrowded and relaxed, bright; lightly at rest on the fabric of the city. The $20-million interior outfitting of engineering giant MMM Group’s new world headquarters on Commerce Valley Drive brings inside this contemporary office-park aesthetic, creating a working environment that is cool and buttoned-down, but never austere.

It’s also not just another sleek, chic office makeover.

“We took the space, which we wanted to be timeless and sophisticated and a little bit raw, and then did a full graphics and branding strategy,” says Chantal Frenette, partner in the Toronto design firm Modo (formerly BHdesign) and a leader of the team that executed the six-storey, 137,000-square-foot MMM project.

28 CANADIAN INTERIORS SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009

When Frenette says raw, by the way, she really means it: the ceiling over the cafeteria has been stripped away to reveal all the electrical and mechanical guts and gizzards it takes to make a modern building work.

In addition to being a place where engineers work on projects scattered around the world, “it’s also a training facility,” says Frenette, “so instead of concealing the systems in the building, we are showcasing what engineers do day to day.”

Then there’s that branding strategy, which Frenette and her Modo collaborator Yvonne Campbell developed over two years of town hall meetings and huddles with staff engineers and executives. Like the lunchroom, the branding also strikes a note of contrast to tiresome, conventional “good design.”

Take the large, handsome graphic that spangles a first-floor wall, for example.

This work celebrates the last half-century of MMM’s business expansion, from its beginnings as a surveying company in the 1950s to the full-service engineering con-

sultancy it is today. Dramatic? Yes. In your face? No. The speedy graphic is in a long, narrow corridor connecting a glassed-in walkway and the cafeteria – meaning it will be seen most often by employees on their way to lunch.

What greets visitors and clients at the front door – as distinct from the moraleboosting jolt the engineers get when they pass by the graphic in the corridor – is a neat, underwhelming glass box with an open-tread stair and very little furniture.

It features only the most minimal signage to tell people they’ve come to the right location: a small light-box off to one side – not boldly centred behind the reception desk – presents merely the company’s name and images of a few projects. To all who venture through those glass doors at the entrance, the vestibule seems to say, “You know what we do here, so you don’t have to be told. So let’s get on with it.”

Before the company moved into the new building, last September, getting on with it meant coordinating the work of

This page A view from the secondfloor landing of the main staircase – down to the reception area and up to the boardroom. All wood is reclaimed birch; floors are polished concrete. Opposite left The stairs feature custom flat-bar stainless steel handrails, attached to glass pannels. Opposite right Detailed view of one of the boardroom’s sliding doors, with its elegantly simple custom stainless steel pull.

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009 CANADIAN INTERIORS 29

600 employees, each with his or her area of expertise, in six offices. This scattered distribution of forces and the intensely interdisciplinary work done by the firm were clearly out of sync. One task of the Modo intervention was to encourage a new, focussed corporate culture; another was to ensure that MMM put into action the green philosophy it broadcasts to its clients.

“The first driver was to provide a cohesive workplace for everybody under one roof,” Frenette recalls hearing from the various thinking-cap sessions, “and to really walk the talk. They work on a lot of projects that are sustainable, and it was very important for them to follow what they were preaching.”

That’s why Modo set about earning LEED Gold certification for its commercial design (MMM’s case is still pending). In a bid to get those points for acquiring goods locally, Modo stipulated that the wood applications throughout the project – cupboards, bookshelves, doors, ceilings and so on – be fashioned from logs that had long

30 CANADIAN INTERIORS SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009

ago tumbled into Georgian Bay, then were later fished out, kiln-dried and cut up into the required shapes and sizes. The look of this rescued wood is rugged and unglamorous, but it instantly communicates the idea of sustainability and the commitment of the company to conservation.

Modo’s approach to acquiring moveable furnishings for the space echoes the same principle. The carpeting put down here and there on the concrete floors is composed of tiles, hence there was no cutting (and, as a consequence, no wasted material). And if some of the furniture is new and exotic – the large Italian table in the boardroom, for example – much is old and recycled: serviceable chairs and desks for the executive offices were harvested from the company’s former facilities.

In keeping with a welcome change in office design everywhere, Modo has also abolished the old rule that says light and views are rewards for good service, and that only the fortunate few can hope to get either. The Herman Miller worksta-

tions distributed throughout the top five storeys of the headquarters are well lit by the perimeter curtain of glass. The executive offices on the second floor are walled in glass, to permit maximum natural light flow into the interior of the building.

Modo’s design goes to the heart of what the contemporary office should be: a comfortable, safe place to work, a setting that takes seriously its responsibility to the environment, a medium that tells anyone who cares to listen about the core values of the business being done there. c I

This page In the full-service cafeteria, an open ceiling allows for exposed systems – as a showcase and also for educational purposes. Opposite left Among the furnishings in this typical openofďŹ ce arrangement are Herman Miller workstations and Steelcase stools. Ceiling task lighting is from Artemide. Opposite right A long, narrow corridor is home to an MMM Group timeline, a key marketing feature for staff and clients.

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009 CANADIAN INTERIORS 31

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Working Well

Style and substance Van Elslander Carter Architects makes over a modelling agency’s office, creating a space that balances function with fashion. —By Karolina Olechnowicz

Photography courtsey of VC Architects

It‘s kind of ironic how badly Ford Models’ Toronto office needed a makeover when they approached Van Elslander Carter Architects last year, wondering if its space was salvageable. The world-renowned agency has been representing fresh, hot modelling talent for more than 60 years, and its Adelaide Street address, on the top floor of an 80-year-old, two-storey building, was out of synch with its corporate identity.

So much so, that in fact, the company was ready to begrudgingly move to a new home, since their current one was underused, outdated and overcrowded. The layout was very compartmentalized, with closed rooms along the perimeter of the building blocking out natural light. Worn flooring and ancient furniture weren’t helping matters either. Not exactly fitting for a company that is based on aesthetics and beauty.

Ford turned to Terence Van Elslander and David Carter of the eponymous Toronto-based firm last summer, hoping that something could be done with the existing location. And there was definite potential.

“It was a sweet little building; unique,”

34 CANADIAN INTERIORS SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009

says principal Van Elslander. “A real gem in the rough.”

All the office needed was some serious revamping. The design team set out with the goal to create a more functional, aesthetically pleasing space, while maintaining the original character of the building.

It all had to be done on a small budget and the architects hoped to keep their work environmentally conscious.

The vision was to create a simpler and much more fluid space, while providing the client with the segregated spaces needed for business, such as a booking room, conference room, portfolio library and reception space. With windows situated all around the perimeter of the office space, it was key to create an open plan to provide natural light throughout the space, while at the same time creating sectioned off zones required, for staff and privacy, as well as public. The design strategy used by Van Elslander Carter was to maximize the natural light inside the space by freeing the perimeter.

Working with Executive Building Solutions, Van Elslander Carter created a sense of openness; rooms were mostly sealed

off with glass, or kept open. There was careful consideration taken into placement of walls; where privacy had to be created chocolate brown walls – which were freestanding of the exterior walls and ceiling – were employed. Glass partitions were used instead wherever possible, allowing natural light to flow through the entire office.

Though it wasn’t a mandate, the designers were keen on sustainability in their approach in this project. “It wasn’t something the client asked for,” says Van Elslander. “It’s something we try to do when approaching a renovation; we try not to throw things away unnecessarily.”

Instead, much of the existing walls, ceilings and floors were kept original and just refurbished The perimeter walls were painted stark white and the entrance wall in bold red. The original floors were stained and refinished in a dark gloss. The contrasting colours make a strong statement, creating a look that is sexy, stylish and timeless. c I

Van Elslander Carter Architects designed the Ford Models office to be open and airy, creating varying degrees of privacy by using glass partitions wherever possible and chocolate brown walls that are freestanding of the stark white perimeter walls. When combined with the dark, glossy floors and – in the reception area – a bright red feature wall displaying the company logo, the result is a striking yet serene palette.

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009 CANADIAN INTERIORS 35

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Working Well

Walking the walk As befits an incubator of green ideas, Toronto’s new Sustainable Studio is the very model of a modern green office. ­—By Heather MacKay

38 CANADIAN INTERIORS SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009

Photography by Stacey Brandford

Opposite Designed by Richard Williams and Brian Aman of HOK, the long and narrow Sustainable Studio is lined with operable floor-to-ceiling windows on three sides. Open-concept workstations line the south-facing wall. Above left At the southeast corner of the studio is an enclosed private office. Above right All furniture is from Haworth; carpet tiles are from InterfaceFLOR.

When the forces of good design align with the forces of change, the outcome can provide a new point of reference. Sustainability Studio is the brainchild of the Innovolve Group, a Toronto-based boutique green consultancy with bold ambitions and a roster of clients other young firms would envy. Housed in a new, five-storey commercial-condoplex on Richmond Street East, the Studio is a living example of what can be achieved when client and designer share a commitment to sustainability at the highest level.

Designed by Richard Williams and Brian Aman of HOK, the 2,700-square-foot office space is welcoming, comfortable and refined. Walking in, you immediately want to grab an electric-orange task chair, plug in your laptop, open a window and get down to work.

The Studio’s success as an incubator of green ideas owes a good deal to the mindful, collaborative design process undertaken by all parties. “You build on the synergies at the beginning, when things

are still on paper,” says Williams, HOK’s vice-president of architecture and sustainable design integration. Not only does this approach cut costs, he says, it means a project can be scrutinized from its very inception to incorporate every possible green intervention.

As consultants for groups ranging from corporate giant Procter & Gamble to the non-profit World Wildlife Fund, the people at Innovolve already had deep experience with sustainability. But in developing new headquarters for their expanding operations, the extensive planning process with HOK was invaluable. “We were newbies and in many ways still are,” says Innovolve CEO Anthony Watanabe of the design challenges. “So we relied on their lens, on their counsel and on their sources.”

Suppliers were selected for their commitment to responsible manufacturing and, where possible, local sourcing. The workspaces are outfitted with InterfaceFLOR carpet tiles made in Belleville, Ont., reconfigurable Haworth modular walls,

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009 CANADIAN INTERIORS 39

This page While individual and fixed spaces have been arrayed on the periphery, the heart of the studio – here furnished with the boardroom’s easy-to-move table and chairs – has been left open for impromptu huddle sessions and organized group work. Opposite left The boardroom is shared by the studio’s co-tenants. Opposite right In the kitchen, cabinetry is made from 100-per-cent post-industrial recycled fibreboard.

40 CANADIAN INTERIORS SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009

and high-performance lighting from Metalumen of Guelph, Ont. In the kitchen, EVO cabinetry from Toronto’s AyA Kitchens is made from 100-per-cent post-industrial recycled fibreboard. Dual-flush toilets, low-flow faucets and zero-VOC paints round out the bill, along with non-toxic sealants and adhesives.

Occupying the building’s entire second floor, the Studio is long and narrow, lined with operable floor-to-ceiling windows on three sides. Despite the compressed footprint, says Watanabe, “We’ve been able to maximize the space through intelligent design and intelligent furniture solutions.” The four corners are reserved for two enclosed private offices, a common boardroom and a communal kitchen.

Open-concept workstations line the southfacing wall, all with views to the old Town of York, where some of Toronto’s oldest buildings coexist with some of its newest.

While individual and fixed spaces have been arrayed on the periphery, the heart of the space has been left open for impromptu

huddle sessions and organized group work.

Sustainability Studio embraces an innovative co-tenancy model, offering workspace and shared amenities to like-minded organizations. At present, Innovolve’s cotenants include Internat Energy Solutions, the Greater Toronto chapter of the Canada Green Building Council, Sustainable Buildings Canada and Fleet Challenge Ontario.

Innovolve itself has five staffers and two interns working out of the space.

Watanabe points to this as one of the project’s most successful features: “The mix of private and collaborative has worked out really well. Collaboration is ripe. It’s happening in many permutations.” Innovolve is currently working on various projects with all of its co-tenants.

Since opening its doors in May, Sustainability Studio has hosted the launch of the Green Building Festival, a breakfast seminar for an accounting firm, a “sustainability jam” with 40 sustainability practitioners, an Ontario College of Art and Design class, and a Sherwin-Williams

training session. The jam, in particular, was pivotal. “There was tons of enthusiasm,” says Watanabe. “It’s exactly the kind of thing we want to do in the Studio.”

There is a sense of authenticity about Sustainability Studio and a sense of satisfaction. Through thoughtful collaboration and by aiming high, an affordable, sophisticated, urban green office was born. As HOK’s Williams puts it, “We keep our goal far enough ahead that it always exceeds our grasp.” It’s a philosophy that has been applied to this project at every stage, from site selection to ongoing operations. The proof is in the occupancy. Looking out on a warm summer afternoon, Innovolve’s Watanabe contentedly mulls over daylight harvesting in his new digs. “You know, I don’t think I’ve ever turned the lights on,” he says. c I

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009 CANADIAN INTERIORS 41

Akiko Collection

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On the plus side Despite a disappointing turnout – and in part because of it – NeoCon ’09 was more than memorable.

—By Michael Totzke

Yes, as was predictable in these tough times, attendance at NeoCon – North America’s largest commercial interior design show and conference – was down.

While last year’s show drew 50,500 to Chicago’s venerable Merchandise Mart, 36,800 attended this past June, which means a drop of about 27 per cent. While all the major design firms were there to see the latest product offerings, they brought fewer people along, as did the exhibitors themselves. It’s as simple as that.

Lower attendance is not necessarily such a bad thing. To put a positive spin on NeoCon ’09: the rank of attendee was high, with the decision-makers out in full force; the big showrooms were as showy as ever; executives spent less time locked in meetings and more time on the floor; it was easier to get around, the halls a little less crowded, the showrooms not so densely packed; and, as those of us who’ve attended NeoCon on a regular basis marvelled,

when you pressed an elevator button, an elevator – after a short wait – would actually arrive.

Most importantly, the show had what it takes in terms of cool, innovative products.

In my report, I’ve focussed on six companies I thought shone the brightest at the show. Five of these – Knoll, Haworth, Herman Miller, Teknion and Humanscale – introduced two or more notable products (I’ve chosen two from each company). The remaining company – Maharam – introduced my personal best of show: the first two installations of an ambitious series of Digital Projects, both stupendous (see for yourself on page 46).

I’ve rounded out my report with four “singular sensations” – one introduction each – from Allseating, Coalesse, Designtex and Interstuhl.

NeoCon 2010 will run at the Merchandise Mart from June 14 to 16. I predict attendance will be way up.

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Knoll

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1–GENERATION Created in collaboration with Kent Parker of Formway Design, Knoll’s Generation chair takes the idea of elastic design (where a product rearranges itself in response to its user) to a new level: it works when it’s sat in regularly, sideways or backwards. The design process entailed stripping away the bells and whistles found on the current crop of task chairs, resulting in a control mechanism known as dynamic suspension, which uses few parts. Support is provided by the chair’s figure-eight frame of reinforced polyester. A high-performance thermoplastic polyester-composite elastomer creates the flexible back (which facilitates changes in posture and position throughout the workday) and flexible top (which extends the range of movement). The base is made of either plastic or aluminum.

2–SPARK The Spark series of stacking and lounge chairs, designed by Don Chadwick, features a one-piece construction of waterproof, UV-protected polypropylene. Light, sturdy and easy to clean, the chairs are made for both indoor and outdoor use. Spark is available in three pop colours and three cool neutrals. knoll.com

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009 CANADIAN INTERIORS 43

Herman Miller 2 1–EMBODY Herman Miller’s latest task chair was designed by the late Bill Stumpf (co-designer of the awesome Aeron) and Jeff Weber. An “instinctive” back, inspired by the human spine, adapts to your unique spinal curvature. When you move, the seat moves with you: using a matrix of pixels, its three-layer construction of materials and technology conforms to micro-movements and distributes weight evenly. The chair’s tilt mechanism encourages working recline, the most healthful working position. PVC-free, Embody has 45 per cent recycled content and is 95 per cent recyclable.

2–SETU Designed by Berlin-based Studio 7.5, Setu is a multi-purpose chair, used when people sit for short periods and frequently move. Setu’s flexible polypropylene Kinematic Spine and elastomer fabric are designed to eliminate the need to adjust the seat. Made of few parts, it weighs less than 20 pounds. Initial models include the Setu 5-star, 4-star, butterfly, butterfly stool, lounge and ottoman.

HermanMiller.com

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Haworth

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3–LIM Haworth’s multi-purpose, multi-task LED light – the “LIM” stands for Light in Motion – is elegantly refined. Its simple, lightweight aluminum form can meet open- and closed-plan requirements for task lights – including desktop, slat/panel mount, floor mount, under work surface and studio table solutions. A magnetic and pivot platform enables 180-rotation and easy adjustment.

4–PLANES This new collection of ergonomic height-adjustable tables was designed to blend well with all of Haworth’s product settings and spaces. Planes includes six mechanisms – incremental, crank, torsion and three versions of electric – in sit-sit and sit-to-stand height ranges. The base is made of steel; worktops are available in laminate or veneer and standard or GreenCore. haworth.com

4

44 CANADIAN INTERIORS SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009

Teknion

5

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5–OPTOS CURVED WALL Teknion has added a new shape to its awardwinning Optos line of glass wall systems. With its frameless glass-to-glass connections, Optos provides a virtually transparent aesthetic; these connections are used to maximum effect with the Optos Curved Wall. It accommodates two planning options. The first involves faceted glass modules that vary in width and angle to conform to the desired radius. The second incorporates new corners that allow the angle of the wall to change, after the corner; they can be used with straight Optos or the new faceted modules.

6–FX A variety of table rails enable the components of fx – an accessories collection designed by Carl Gustav Magnusson – to be mounted above the worksurface, freeing valuable workspace. A slim aluminum channel neatly organizes various fx items. Components include a personal charger, headphone hook, in/out tray, personal box (with a mirror on the underside of the lid) and a lockable utility drawer. teknion.com

Humanscale 7–ELEMENT Current-generation LED task lights use a series of LEDs in a cluster or bar to generate illumination, which can created shadows; these lights also provide inadequate illumination, oddly shaped lighting footprints and bluish light quality.

Element, by Mark McKenna, eliminates each of these shortcomings with a single low-watt MultiChip LED – which doesn’t cast shadows, meets industry guidelines for comfortable ergonomic reading and offers a large footprint of neutral white 3500K light. A series of metal fins keeps the unit cool to extend the life of the LED, which is rated at 60,000 hours.

8–M2 Humanscale takes the adjustable monitor arm to a new level. Where current-generation arms use a bulky, failure-prone gas cylinder to counterbalance the weight of the monitor, M2 utilizes an automatic spring mechanism. The result is a longer life, more streamlined aesthetic, and more eco- and value-conscious choice.

The ultra-simple, ultra-thin M2 accommodates most monitors up to 24 inches in size, and offers 10 inches of dynamic height adjustment and a 20-inch reach. humanscale.com

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SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009 CANADIAN INTERIORS 45

Maharam 1–MAHARAM DIGITAL PROJECTS On show were the first two installations of an ambitious series reflecting the increasing convergence of art and design. In collaboration with artists, photographers, illustrators and designer of every stripe, Maharam is producing meticulously rendered, digitally generated wallcovering installations – printed in high resolution with UV-resistant pigment-based inks on a variety of substrates – meant for commercial and residential application. Two Minutes Playing Dead (a), by Scottish-born Douglas Gordon, is derived from a single-channel video installation entitled “Play Dead: Real Time,” in which an Indian elephant lies down and plays dead repeatedly on camera.

When viewed in installation, the 450,000-frame film sequence (set in a grid structure) becomes a micro/macro black and white ombre. Dutch Clouds (b) is by Amsterdam-based Karel Martens.

His clouds are on an abstract colour field formed through the use of thousands of highly complex multi-coloured icons. maharam.com

1b

46 CANADIAN INTERIORS SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009

1a

Singular sensations 4

3

2

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2–COMMON THREADS Designtex’s limited-edition rug collection was created in collaboration with Arzu, a not-forprofit organization that provides sustainable income to Afghan women by sourcing and selling the rugs they weave. Common Threads comprises six modern rug designs produced with the goal of minimizing environmental impact: weavers use wool from sheep in Afghanistan; natural dyes derived from local plants and fruits are used in place of chemical-based dyes. Each rug comes in three colourways and is available in 5-by-7-foot, 6-by-9-foot and 8-by-8-foot sizes. designtex.com 3–FIT Innovations that challenge the conventional mode of seating are rare – Interstuhl’s Fit is one.

A knitted Treviva fabric is stretched on a chrome-

plated steel frame slanted 60 degrees. The user backs into the chair and sits. Thanks to the open mesh structure, no heat and moisture accumulates, and no hard parts come into contact with the human body. Fit’s creator is Zurich-based Christine Lüdeke (ludekedesign), who has been designing for the aviation industry for many years. interstuhl.de 4–RAY Designed by Lee Fletcher and Terence Woodside of figforty – in collaboration with Cooler Solutions – Ray features a frame inspired by postmodern icons. An innovative mechanism called React intuitively adjusts to the most ideal sitting position based on the weight of the user, making it suitable for multi-users and multi-purposes.

“We were excited to partner with figforty on its first foray into seating design,” says Gary

Neil, president and founder of Allseating. “As a Canadian company, we’re particularly proud to support Canadian design talent.” allseating.com 5–DENIZEN Coalesse’s collection of modern casegoods – designed by Otto Williams and Jess Sorel of WilliamsSorel – could fit as easily in the home as in office settings. Made with sustainable materials in their purest form (oak, teak and ash), the line includes worktables, benches, secretaries, credenzas, towers, overheads storage and display components. Special features include self-closing doors and drawers; and integrated, clutter-free technology access points. coalesse.com

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009 CANADIAN INTERIORS 47

Light source

Who better to design a showroom for Montreal’s Eklipse than the owner himself, lighting designer and manufacturer André Pallai?

—By Rhys Phillips

Photography by Marc Cramer

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009 CANADIAN INTERIORS 49

When Le Studio, Eklipse Lighting’s new showroom, picked up a Créativité Montréal 2008 Grand Prize last November, the recognition did more than highlight the design talents of company owner André Pallai. It also turned the spotlight – pun intended – on the type of small but sophisticated design/manufacture operation that arguably makes Montreal Canada’s creativity capital. The showroom’s refined minimalist aesthetic reflects the simple elegance of Eklipse’s exquisitely tooled fixtures while providing an excellent venue for demonstrating just how good lighting can define and texture architectural space.

As both a lighting designer and successful manufacturer of lighting, Pallai is primarily self-taught, albeit born with a bent for drawing and a keen interest in architecture. From an early career as a buyer and seller of other people’s lighting products, he “started to get more interested in what lighting could do within an architectural context, how it could change a space, how it could be more profound, more layered.” By 1998, Pallai founded Eklipse to design and manufacture contract light fixtures and slowly “gathered the arrogance,” he says, to start designing lighting that represented his own signature.

Eklipse is an operation that both works with designers/architects on major projects and markets through wholesale agents. While many of the firm’s models are developed for specific projects, almost all are intended to become part of the company’s line of fixtures. Pallai specializes in very clean, fine, jewelry-like fixtures using LED, metal halide and halogen; they are intended to have not much presence – in order to be able to go almost everywhere, from ultra-modern to heritage architecture. It is how the fixture produces light that is key, he maintains.

Award-winning Le Studio is Pallai’s first major interior design project: “I am used to working at the scale of things I can hold in my hand, that I can turn in all directions. This was a whole different angle of designing, but I knew what I wanted.” While the firm’s line is marketed through agents, he wanted, within the modest showroom, a demonstration space in which his products could be marshalled through their unique effects. The space

50 CANADIAN INTERIORS SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009

The office/conference room features a completely transparent wall of three sliding glass-only panels using a hidden track system from Europe. In the main area, the only furniture is an all-acrylic armchair and a cluster of different-shaped “boulders,” custom designed for Le Studio by a South African firm.

had to be open and flowing to draw the visitor into the core area. He also wanted it free of clutter, with a strict, minimalist approach to detail.

The entrance to Le Studio uses a range across the light spectrum, starting with a warm tone that draws in before morphing to a whiter light that is closer to that of a rainy day. The effect of the latter is to push back the walls, thus adding to the architectural experience. Once inside, an “alley” – one step below the showroom – cuts straight back to a niche with Le Studio’s only coloured wall, in deep blue, as well as a simple shelf made from a salvaged wooden beam. In line with the entrance, on the niche’s back wall is a graphic painting proclaiming the company’s key values: Passion, Innovation, Illumination as Art, etc.

The ceiling rolls up over the showroom, although a piece seems to have been ripped and pulled down to act as a modesty screen for a washroom entrance.

Toward the front, the ceiling rolls back down again to define an office/conference room with a completely transparent wall of three sliding glass-only panels using a hidden track system from Europe.

A buttery floor of compressed bamboo helps unify the different components of Le

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009 CANADIAN INTERIORS 51

An “alley” – one step below – cuts straight back to a niche with Le Studio’s only coloured wall of deep blue, as well as a shelf made from a salvaged wooden beam. A buttery floor of compressed bamboo helps unify the different components of the showroom.

Studio. Two shelving/showcases provide “painting canvasses” to demonstrate how the lights work. For example, one contains a series of side-by-side niches all covered in the same coloured suede-like material.

The perceived depth, width and colour of each space differ only because of the type of light fixture used.

Save for a single, all-acrylic armchair, 52 CANADIAN INTERIORS SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009

the only furniture is a cluster of different shaped “boulders,” custom designed for Le Studio by a South African firm. Despite their convincing illusion, these wool ottomans turn out to make remarkably comfortable seating. The idea, says Pallai, was to ensure the furniture did not impose any direction on the flow of the room.

For Eklipse, the next frontier is Europe. c I

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Less is more A minimal design with flexible spaces and site-specific materials makes this house an ideal home for a young West Coast family. —By Janet Collins

54 CANADIAN INTERIORS SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009

Photography by Michael Boland

The open plan and generous use of glass enables natural light to penetrate the entire house. Clean lines help the building exude a modern, minimalist aesthetic, while natural materials and neutral colours ensure the overall vibe is warm and inviting. The palette complements the natural elements (rocks, trees, sky, etc.) of the site, thus producing a strong visual transition between outdoors and in, while also providing an excellent backdrop for a few strategically placed pieces of art.

When asked to design a home for an active young family, Nigel Parish of Vancouverbased Splyce Design/Build opted for a minimalist aesthetic infused with references to the building’s West Coast locale.

The result is a laidback elegance that can easily adapt to the changing needs of the residents.

The general plan of the irregularly shaped structure is at once open and highly flexible. The hillside site is mimicked in the undulating wall planes and varying floor levels. While the building is essentially a two-storey construct, recessed and raised floors add visual interest, helping to define the separate interior areas without resorting to the addition of walls. This effect is best appreciated when looking from the sunken living room that anchors one end of the main level, stepping gently up to the far end of the open space where the open staircase is located.

Movable partitions, such as those found on the transition level halfway up the stairs, add to the flexibility of individual spaces. These movable walls allow this level to function as a single open space or separate rooms as required by the family. This enables the boys to commandeer an area for use as a media/hangout room, where they won’t disturb their father working in the adjoining office (situated down the hall from the master suite, the girl’s room is large enough to include its own play space).

In the master suite, on the secondstorey, another moveable wall affords varying amounts of light and changes of the exterior view past the freestanding tub and the bathroom window beyond. (The glass-walled shower is also positioned to take full advantage of the exterior views without compromising privacy.) This ability to change the size and aesthetic of individual rooms not only provides for the ever-changing needs of the young family today, but will enable the house to readily adapt to future requirements as well.

Views are an important feature of this residence; so much so that large windows were installed at the front of the house to give ample views of the nearby ocean while accessing the maximum amount of natural light. The long, narrow window might, at first glance, seem an odd choice for the dining room, but it was strategically placed low on the wall to give diners unobstructed views of the surrounding forest, while foiling the efforts of any nosy neighbours.

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009 CANADIAN INTERIORS 55

In homage to the West Coast aesthetic, Parish designed the home so there is a natural flow between the interior spaces as well as visual dialogue between indoor and outdoor areas. Similarly, materials used in the construction and interior finishes resemble the natural materials found on and around the site. For example, the cedar siding detail gives a nod to the surrounding trees. The flow of the wood (albeit in a different grade and finish) continues to the sofit covering the upper level’s outdoor room and deck. Inside, the effect is echoed in the white oak flooring that is used to cover the stair treads and the side of a hallway cabinet. By extending the use of the same flooring material along the underside of the upper-level bridge, which couples with the exposed stairway to cross the breezeway “spine,” Parish connects and defines the two main sections of the home. The continuation of materials in this way emphasizes the horizontal plane. Glass inlays in the bridge deck let light from the skylight above flow into the breezeway below.

The bridge and railing that surrounds the double-height breezeway bisects further, establishing a connection between upper and lower levels thanks in large part to mesh railing panels. Glimpses of the open-concept kitchen just off the dining area can thus be seen from above, despite the permanent wall that separates kitchen and living room.

Radiant heating may warm the concrete floors of this 2008 IDIBC Award of Excellence gold recipient, but the wood details and occasional hits of wall colour enliven the minimalist esthetic. c I

56 CANADIAN INTERIORS SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009

Movable partitions, such as those found in the master suite and media room, increase the flexibility of the interior spaces. Changing the size and layout of the rooms in this way also alters the light level of the adjoining spaces as well as sightlines of both interior and exterior vistas. Visual connection between the upper and lower levels is established with the double-height “breezeway” that is the spine of the house.

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009 CANADIAN INTERIORS 57

Stacey Brandford Photography 416.463.8877 studio@staceybrandford.com staceybrandford.com

2009

LIGHT CANADA EXPO + CONFERENCE The Official Guide to Light Canada Expo + Conference at IIDEX/NeoCon Canada

LIGHT CANADA EXPO & CONFERENCE

LIGHT CANADA 2009 Light Canada returns with new and expanded offerings.

Light Canada is back for another stellar year of education seminars, expanded exhibit spaces, and exciting special features. IIDEX/NeoCon Canada in partnership with the Illuminating Engineering Society, Toronto Section (IES) will showcase the latest in interior, exterior, commercial and architectural lighting products plus lamps and lighting controls in over 15,000 square feet of exposition space. With over 100 new Canadian and international exhibitors, Light Canada delivers not only cutting-edge design, but will also showcase the monumental advances in sustainable lighting, LED technology, new materials, and advances in lighting design.

Attendees from all industry disciplines—buyers and specifiers such as architects, interior designers, lighting designers, engineers and facility and building managers—can learn and earn Lighting Certified (LC) education credits at over 10 lighting seminars on the hottest lighting topics. The lighting seminar stream is organized by IES Toronto Section and IIDEX/NeoCon Canada, and also includes internationally acclaimed light artist Stephen Knapp who will dazzle attendees with his Lighting Keynote presentation LIGHTING SEMINARS Thursday, September 24 T20 LEED and Lighting Design

8:30am–9:30am Katherine MacKay, Howard Procyshyn and Lana MacInnes In today’s construction environment, the acquisition of LEED status has become increasingly more commonplace. While lighting plays a small yet

entitled Lightpaintings in Art and Architecture. Light Canada will feature a Toronto first, an impressively scaled state-of-the-art sustainable light art installation designed by Knapp called Castled Void.

Also featured this year is a 400-square-foot exhibit from MADE, a design product company dedicated to representing and promoting the work of emerging Canadian designers. Making its IIDEX 2009 debut, the MADE exhibit will showcase the best from its Radiant Dark series of exhibitions, focusing primarily on lighting designs. The works on display encompass table lamps, standard lamps and pendants to wall works and chandeliers.

Many are customizable designs with the inherent potential to translate from the intimacy of residential environments to providing warmth and intrigue to large-scale public settings.

And finally, IIDEX/NeoCon Canada’s annual event, the Light Canada/IES Toronto Gala, will be held on Saturday, September 26th at the Pantages Hotel.

often difficult part in the overall LEED package, the points are ultimately critical to the success of the project’s certification. Our panel of presenters have first-hand experience with the lighting challenges and solutions of the LEED process.

T10 Out of the Shadows

11:30am–12:30pm Abhay Wadhwa Design is about balancing the elements, and thus a great deal of lighting design is necessarily about

LS2 canadian architect/CANADIAN INTERIORS LIGHTING SHOW GUIDE 2009

creating and engaging shadow spaces. Different project types and architectural styles demand different levels of artificial light; some create light where there was none and others let the darkness speak. Others find a playful middle ground. In whole, designers must know how to control shadow, thereby avoiding unwanted dark­ness while creating opportunity for dynamic effect, all within the design requirements. Topics to be covered include: how one can integrate shadows as a functional tool as well as an aesthet-

ic design component to enhance emotion, affect behaviour, and improve visual experience within an environment; how one can create dynamic silhouettes and shadows by balancing shadow and light; and how one can play with daytime versus night­time perception.

T15 Re-Lighting an Art Moderne Masterpiece: The Carlu—A Case Study

11:30am–12:30pm Christopher Nelson and Scott Weir Designed by eminent French architect Jacques Carlu and first opened in 1930, the Carlu is located on the seventh floor of Eaton’s College Street in Toronto and embodies the multi-layered and innovative experiments of early modern electric lighting. The Carlu was mothballed from 1977 to 2003, but its refurbishment highlights the positive results achievable through collaboration and enthusiastic teamwork. The presenters are two lighting experts who worked together salvaging, restoring and, where necessary, recreating historic lighting fixtures for the Carlu.

T18 Connecting the Dots: The Impact of Architectural Lighting on Human Health

1:00pm–2:00pm Mariana Figueiro Light isn’t just for vision anymore. This presentation will provide a summary of cutting-edge research on the physiological effects of light on human health and well-being. It will also provide an update on the latest research on the impact of light at night on cancer risks. The impact of architectural lighting on sleep quality in older adults and on the well-being of young adults will be discussed.

T24 Lighting for Architects & Designers

1:00pm–3:00pm Paul Boken and Brad Hindson This presentation will address common lighting issues that affect architects and interior designers. Discussion topics will range from lamp types, lighting effects and light-cove design, to more advanced subjects such as reading a cut sheet, the importance of maintenance, and how to avoid scalloping, socket shadows and hot spots. The purpose is not to turn everyone into a lighting designer. Rather, attendees will come away with a better understanding of lighting and its vocabulary to improve their dialogue with lighting professionals.

Friday, September 25

using examples of conventional lighting controls to demonstrate their limitations versus more advanced alternatives. Attendees will learn about market drivers in the industry and a wide range of lighting strategies, including daylight harvesting, occupancy control, task tuning, smart time scheduling, personal light control and demand-responsive load shedding. They will also learn how lighting controls can be integrated with other building systems.

F07 Lighting the Way to Global Economic Transformation, One Home at a Time!

8:30am–9:30am Dr. Dave Irvine-Halliday Two billion people have no access to electricity and, for light, most rely on kerosene and candles, which are dangerous, unhealthy, dim and very expensive. Light Up the World’s (LUTW) solid-state lighting systems are a perfect match for the needs of the developing world and contribute positively to all of the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals. The numbers are staggering, and only the marketplace will enable solid-state lighting to reach the majority of the people in need. LUTW’s fundamental goal is to improve the quality of life of those who, through no fault of their own, find themselves trapped in a cycle of poverty.

Lighting Keynote: Lightpaintings in Art and Architecture

10:30am–11:30am Stephen Knapp American artist Stephen Knapp has the distinction of creating what has been described as “the first new art medium of the 21st century.”

During a career spanning decades, Knapp has been producing lightpaintings, formed at the intersection of painting, sculpture and archi­tec­ ture, and is inspired by his explorations of space and dimension, light and colour, and perception.

As one of a small group of artists working with light, Knapp has gained an international reputation for large-scale works of pure radiance, making visible the light that surrounds us and transforming it. He has a well-established record of collaborating with architects and designers.

Clients are often surprised to learn that lightpaintings are “green” and, in major installations, have resulted in significant savings, challenging what green design means and the role light can play. In his IIDEX/NeoCon Canada keynote, Knapp will discuss the development of lightpaintings, the impact light art could have on the art and architecture of the future, and how it could change the way we design our buildings.

use of daylighting in architecture and a review of terminology. Design issues and challenges, using a specific design example, will be covered, along with the use of integrated daylighting and lighting controls. Attendees will gain an understanding of the language and design methodologies of daylighting.

F33 Rethinking Lighting: The LED Promise

11:45am–12:45pm Martyn Timmings LED lighting systems have advanced at remarkable rates. An entirely new category of lighting, white light LEDs are developing into products that are approaching—and in some cases surpassing—the performance of traditional lighting equipment. For the lighting designer, it is critical that the performance attributes of LED systems be well understood so that their advantages and challenges can be evaluated for various applications. This presentation will pull the pieces together so that lighting specifiers are equipped with the knowledge they need.

F20 Taking it to the Streets: Using LEDs for Outdoor Lighting Applications

2:30pm–3:30pm Shirley Coyle Pilot or proven? LED lighting technology has been in use for the past few years in parking lots, parking structures and building security schemes, and is now moving into street and roadway applications. With the rapid pace of development in high-brightness white LEDs, it can be daunting to evaluate products and to sort through claims to determine where LED lighting can be applied sensibly now. This session will cover the basics of LED lighting technology and standards for photometric testing and life ratings, provide guidelines for effective evaluation and specification of LED luminaires, and review case studies in Canada and the US focusing on commercial exterior lighting.

F25 Aging Boomers: Lighting Design for Our Aging Eyes

2:30pm–4:30pm Dyoni Smith-Page There’s no escaping it: baby boomers are aging.

This huge population of seniors requires a design force that is sensitive to their needs. How can thoughtful lighting design reduce dependence on drugs, help lessen the effects of senility, and even lower cancer risks? Come and arm yourself with the latest research on lighting design for aging bodies and minds.

F06 Addressing Dimmable Controls

8:30am–9:30am Andrew Parker This presentation will focus on the importance of energy management through lighting controls,

F12 Daylighting Integration

11:45am–12:45am Gerry Cornwell This session will present a brief history on the

For more information on seminars, please visit www.iidexneocon.com/2009/index.php/seminars/

LIGHTING SHOW GUIDE 2009­canadian architect/canadian interiors

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through a glass darkly

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the second annual Radiant Dark exhibition presents new directions in lighting design at IIDEX/NeoCon Canada 2009.

Leslie Jen Jennifer Rowsom unless otherwise noted

TEXT

PHOTOS

MADE, the Toronto-based design product company led by Shaun Moore and Julie Nicholson, showcased 70 new works from artists, architects, industrial designers and craftspeople this past February in the second annual Radiant Dark exhibition. Intriguingly subtitled Elegant Corruptions, the exhibition hints tantalizingly at the dark side, and the invited designers created moody, ambient lighting in response to Moore and Nich­ ol­son’s theme.

Radiant Dark typically features more than just lighting; the exhibitions encompass furniture, textiles, ceramic, glass and metal work as well.

However, MADE’s debut this September at IIDEX/NeoCon Canada will showcase just a fraction of select lighting pieces from the more vastly expansive Radiant Dark exhibition held earlier this year. One of these pieces is Cali Balles and Don Maclennan’s Grey Shadows, an utterly sublime pendant light fixture crafted out of sandblasted, mouth-blown glass. These glass forms are initially created as perfect ovoids which are subjected to a prolonged heating process—the first step in corrupting their form—and they begin to collapse on themselves. Decay continues as air is drawn out, and organic folds and wrink­ les begin to appear. The end result is that these smoky amorphous shapes become beautifully evocative suspended forms that subtly illuminate a room; they captivate with their presence.

The work of industrial designer Tamara Rush­ low makes an appearance again this year, this time in the form of the Flute chandelier. Here, pale porcelain shards are staggered at varying heights, dangling around a central light source.

The matte and vaguely imperfect surface of the Grey Shadows, a strikingly evocative pair of smoky pendant lights constructed of sandblasted and mouthblown glass, is the result of a collaboration between Cali Balles and Don Maclennan. TOP RIGHT Propellor Design’s Dram is an awe-inspiring feat of sustainable reuse: the massive chandelier is comprised of 120 vintage drinking glasses in a variety of hues. RIGHT Propellor makes two other pendant light contributions, this time utilizing the rich warmth of wood— Meridian on the left, and Calvino on the right.

LIGHTING SHOW GUIDE 2009­canadian architect/canadian interiors

MADE Design

MADE Design

OPPOSITE

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porcelain conveys a quality of tactility; the entire piece reads as an illuminated sculpture, where the light is broken, redirected and scattered.

Multidisciplinary designer and artist Barr Gilmore offers a cheeky response to Elegant Corruptions with Shinny. A tribute to a bygone era and our country’s national obsession with hockey, Shinny is a columnar floor lamp comprised of old-fashioned handcrafted wooden hockey sticks—itself a comment on newer construction technologies involving fibreglass, aluminum, carbon fibre and other composites.

There is an element of the Duchampian “readymade” found-object sculpture here; 10 to 12 ash hockey sticks are arrayed vertically around an illuminated shaft, which glows like the ice upon which the game is played.

As we live in an age guided by sustainable design considerations, Propellor Design have produced a novel lighting solution called Dram, a contemporary chandelier comprised of 120 disused retro drinking glasses and tumblers in a variety of shades. These drinking vessels from another time are inverted and suspended, their various colours and forms blurring together in a hazy glow. Two other examples of Propellor’s lighting designs featured on the previous page include Meridian and Calvino, spherical and rectilinear geometries that are articulated, in this instance, in wood rather than glass.

The nature of the work included in Radiant Dark appears to be evolving into a cross-discipli­ nary exercise; it is becoming more about the experiential installation and less about the finished object of display. Illustrative of this shift is an installation bearing the name Tips and Trade Offs by Orest Tataryn, which features a mixed bag of ingredients—Pyrex tubing, neon tubes and glass frits. In working with other artists, designers and architects, Tataryn often expresses the various technologies of lighting—in particular, neon tube-type illumination, fibre optics and LED. As a series of curated exhibitions and as a means to present some of the multifaceted yet often obscured aspects of contemporary Cana­ dian design, Radiant Dark continues to be a success. Moore and Nicholson are in the midst of planning the third installment, which takes place in February 2010. And as in previous years, the show will introduce a fresh theme to stimulate new works and to demonstrate that the world of Canadian design is not static, but rather a living, evolving entity that invites viewers to engage with work that is representative of a thoughtful, independent design process.

Flute is the name given to this chandelier by Tamara Rushlow, in which beautifully tactile shards of pale porcelain are suspended. ABOVE, LEFT TO RIGHT Orest Tataryn’s con­ tribution, entitled Tips and Trade Offs, is an illuminated installation offering a mixed bag of ingredients—Pyrex tubing, neon tubes and glass frits; in Barr Gilmore’s Shinny, handcrafted ash hockey sticks are arrayed around a glowing, illuminated central shaft to create a distinctly Canadian floor lamp.

TOP

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For more information on MADE and Radiant Dark, please visit www.madedesign.ca.

A Light Knapp Artist Stephen Knapp will deliver the lighting keynote address at this year’s IIDEX/NeoCon Show in Toronto.

TEXT

Ian Chodikoff Satashi Yamamoto

PHOTO

Combining all the colours in the visible light spectrum in equal proportions will give you white light. But to American artist Stephen Knapp, it is the process of separating out the colours in white light that has given him the greatest reward in his long career as a visual artist. Inspired by the qualities of light, colour and space, Knapp’s “lightpaintings” sit at the intersection of painting, sculpture and architecture.

No stranger to Canada, Knapp has spent a large part of his life vacationing in Nova Scotia.

His artistic career was partially triggered by another aspect of Canadiana—as a kid, he was first introduced to design by reading the back pages of The Star Weekly (published by The Toronto Star

until 1975). Knapp gleefully remembers dis­ covering modular furniture design, modern art and contemporary residential design in this once-popular weekly lifestyle magazine.

Before embarking on his lightpainting career, Knapp experimented with etched metal, ceramic and slate to construct murals that would use light as a catalyst to bring a greater perception of depth to his compositions. He eventually explored the use of coloured glass as a way to mani­pulate and capture light. The properties of glass never ceased to fascinate him; he developed a method of separating white light into pure colours with the aid of dichromatic glass pieces and 75-watt lightbulbs. Breaking down

white light and creating large, variegated and illuminated surfaces of light, darkness and shadow is what he refers to as lightpainting.

When combined with the use of stainless steel and its reflective properties, the separated bands of coloured light can be further controlled and guided across a given surface.

Another aspect to Knapp’s installations is his fascination with the edges of the coloured bands, as well as the subtle characteristics of shadows that contain traces of coloured light, a condition he ascribes to the underpainting of his lightpaintings. This underpainting gives his work greater dimension, one that is surprisingly complex.

For this year’s IIDEX/NeoCon show in Toronto, Knapp has created a 12’ x 24’ piece entitled Castled Void. The installation will include his signature multi-coloured aesthetic but it will also explore the idea of depth and shadow on a larger scale. With this piece, viewers will be able to experience the complexity of his lightpainting from a distance, and Knapp hopes to install a floating ceiling and two sidewalls to shield the installation from extraneous light sources.

Situated just outside of Boston in Worcester, Knapp’s studio practice started off small with just his wife and son at his side. Today, he continues to operate the studio with his wife and two full-time assistants who help grind and polish glass for his various installations. The growth of his artistic practice continues; he expects that his 5,000-square-foot studio will double in size next year. Knapp’s work can be found in private collections and galleries around the world. Recently, he installed a large piece on a cruise ship and will be working on a large multi-surface light installation in Naples, Florida later this fall.

Clearly, his enduring popularity in cities across the globe is evidence of Knapp’s success in working with the ethereal qualities of light.

Stephen Knapp puts the final touches on his lightpainting entitled First Symphony by adjusting some of many glass elements comprising the installation.

LEFT

LIGHTING SHOW GUIDE 2009­canadian architect/canadian interiors

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See us at IIDEX 2009 in Toronto, Booth #L2027, September 23–26; or visit www.canlyte.com

Circle Reply Card 27

DESIGN EXCHANGE AWARDS

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Who’s Who

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Summer special —By David Lasker

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Knoll party Knoll introduced both its new Generation chair and new North American president at its showroom in Toronto’s hip Liberty Village.

1—Elizabeth Broxterman, project manager, Frankland and Associates; Isabelle Talbot, partner, Raymond Chiappetta and Associates; Frankland’s president Brenda Frankland and design assistant Melanie Franks.

2—David Krieger, Krieger and Associates benefits consultants; Marisa Arpaia and LeiLei Sun, interior designers at Straticom; and the Liss Gallery’s Brian Liss.

3—Mike Benigno, VP Sales, Central Region, Knoll, Chicago; interior designer Antonio De Gregorio, DePM; Marilyn White, interior design director at Mole White + Cohos Evamy; and Greg Rapier, Knoll’s regional manager, Canada.

4—Gathered around Knoll’s new Generation chair: Lynn Utter, the new president and COO, Knoll North America; interior designer Marjorie McKinnon; and Fabiana Stubrich, Knoll’s director of business development.

5—Danny Pressacco, intern architect at Kearns Mancini; architect David Sin; interior designer Mark Ojascastro and intern architect Lucy O’Connor of Kearns Mancini.

6—Todd McGauley, owner, Knoll dealer Triad Office Interiors, Oakville; Deborah Scott, partner, Scott Morris Architects; and Lynn Schumacher, president, Hill & Schumacher patent agents.

7—Designer Dianne Soucy and partners Stella McTernan and John Kelly of interior design firm Kelly McTernan Lavoie, with interior designer William Anderson.

68 CANADIAN INTERIORS SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009

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Diamond and Schmitt Summer Solstice party Economies and kingdoms may rise and fall, but the annual Diamond and Schmitt bash, where designers mingle with politicians and plutocrats, never falters.

1—Longtime Maclean’s columnist Allan Fotheringham and his art-dealer wife, Anne.

2—Quadrangle Architects partner Brian Curtner; Julie Edwards, VP facilities, Corus Entertainment; Christine Raissis, director, City of Toronto, Economic Development Division; and Keith Williams, senior VP at construction company Aecon.

3—Condo magnate Alex Speigel, president of One Development; host Don Schmitt; and Bob Blazevski, executive VP, precious-stone miner DiamondCorp.

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Paul Raff Studio party This summer, at Montreal’s Festival of Architecture and Forum, Paul Raff became the first architect ever to receive both the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada’s Allied Arts Medal and an award for Innovation. Hence, his office party.

1—Sean Solowski, intern architect at Paul Raff Studio; Marco Jacob, intern architect and principal designer at Atelier Jacob; and his fiancé, Christine Rochet, founder of French language instructors Coco & Co. 2—Johane Lefrançois-Deignan and Brian Deignan, partners at the interior and furniture design firm JNS Design, flank Paul Raff.

3—Architect John Shnier of Kohn Shnier; and Samantha Scroggie, intern architect at Paul Raff Studio.

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SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009 CANADIAN INTERIORS 69

Last Word

Foreign exchange The Canadian presence at ICFF was small but enlightening.

—By David Sokol

The International Contemporary Furniture Fair, better known as ICFF, reached its American drinking age this year. Yet the 21st annual convergence of modern product designers, manufacturers and distributors on New York City’s Jacob K. Javits Convention Center held no wild, self-congratulatory party. Rather, upright quiet dominated, as makers retreated from the crystalline shapes, florid images and shtick humor of recent years.

Among the 552 exhibitors at the ICFF, the small handful of Canadians seemed poised to teach the rest of us a thing or two about managing the recession beyond aesthetic choices. Consider this analogue: just how different is peddling modern design in a country of 30 million, even in the best of times, from selling it in a market that’s 10 times as large and equally leery?

The parallels came to light immediately.

First I met Vancouver’s Derek Morton.

Three years ago he gave up a career in financial software to found Utility Furniture; today that company is called Park Studio, and it was making its international debut at the ICFF. Next to Morton stood another Vancouverite, Kurt Dexel, of Dexel Crafted, who has been building cabinets as a hobby for the last decade but ultimately ditched civil engineering for his

rakish creations, also three years ago. As U.S. unemployment figures continue to soar, it seems likely that Silicon Valley dropouts and former financial wizards will be calling these two talents for pathforging advice.

Morton’s treen plates and bowls intimate a second tutorial, in frugality.

These objects’ wood figures and wormhole punctuation marks seem too artistic to have happened by accident, but they were simply salvaged from trees felled by disease and age, and then lathe-turned.

Fiscal conservatism also spells community. A quartet of Canucks – Dan Planko, Ridgely Studio Works, Rollout Custom Wallpaper (all based in Vancouver) and Tsunami Glassworks (based in Windsor, Ont.), all friends through Toronto’s Design Exchange – pooled their resources to occupy a sizable booth at the fair. And in that spirit of teamwork, the booth introduced visitors to Parrot Fly glass tiles, a collaboration between pattern-happy Rollout and neighbouring tile manufacturer Interstyle (of Burnaby, B.C.). Stimulus packagers, take note.

Planko had some good news to report, too. By the opening of the show’s third day, he had sold out his Rewilderness Project, a series of anime-style deer heads made

from old lamp harps, reclaimed furniture legs, discarded drink coasters and other salvage. Aren’t deer heads passé? “I think they’re popular,” he admitted absentmindedly, “but when I saw these old hunting trophies at my cousin’s home in Slovenia, I just wanted to make them.” That consumers are snapping up Planko’s faux does (or bucks, as the case may be) suggests one final lesson: following one’s instinct may be the recession’s best salve. c I Background and right Parrot Fly glass tiles, a collaborative effort from tile makers Interstyle and Rollout Custom Wallpaper. Centre Dan Planko’s Rewilderness Project, made from salvaged bits of lamps, furniture, etc. Left Coffee table designed by former civil engineer Kurt Dexel, of Dexel Crafted.

WHERE THE GROUND BENEATH YOUR FEET IS CONSTANTLY SHIFTING Visit us at iiDEX/NEoCoN 2009 iN spaCE 1305 proDuCt: tECtoNiCs™ / Colours: biNary, NaNo, bytE

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WELCOME TO UNDERLAND:

Š 2009 All Rights Reserved. Global Design Center 09.0255 Shown in Rift Cut White Maple (WMWR) with M9 seating in Equinox Turquoise.

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2009

Title

Name Company Address City

Prov.

Tel.

Fax

Postal code

E-mail Signature

Date

Visa/AMEX/MC No.

Exp. date

Name on card

Please check one item in each category A. Type of business

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● Interior Design

● Facility/Property/Project Management

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● Architecture

● Dealer/Manufacturer

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● Industrial Design

● Showroom/Retail

● Builders/Developers

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● Landscape Design

● Government/Banks

● Institutions/Libraries

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● Design Dept in Hospitality and Corporate

● Home Decor

● Other (please specify)

B. Job Function ● Architect

● Engineer

● Landscape Designer/Architect

● Interior Designer

● Facility/Project Manager

● Owner/CEO/President/Partner

● Industrial Designer

● Purchasing/Manager

● Government/Building Official

● Decorator

● Financial Mgmt.

● Developer/Urban Planner

E. Size of company (by number of employees) ● 1-9

● 10-19

● 20-49 ● 50-99

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