A well-designed space often produces a connection between a person and their built environment. SnapCab®, a company that manufactures both elevator interior systems, and in more recent years, WorkSpace pods, defines itself with a new tagline highlighting the flexibility of the design for its pods representative of the connection between a space’s design and its user: “Space to be you.” SnapCab, originally founded by Glenn Bostock, chief executive officer of the company, in 1983 as a company specializing in custom cabinetry, now has headquarters in two locations: one for SnapCab’s elevator interior systems in Warrington, Pennsylvania, and another for the SnapCab Workspace products in Kingston, Ontario in Canada. While both…
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Choreographed by design
From within the renovated walls of a landmark-designated site in the Traverse City State Hospital Historic District, a husband-and-wife-led team of kitchen designers, project managers, interior designers, and craftspeople are continuing a mission established long before relocating their design studio to the former Steward Residence on South Division in Traverse City, Michigan. Initially founded in 2003 as a cabinet supplier in a space on South Garfield Avenue, Kitchen Choreography LLC has since grown into a robust remodeling firm with a team dedicated to realizing well-designed spaces for their clients. Recognized for its commitment to preservation such as in the artful blend of historic and new walls of the 3,500-square-foot, vacant-home-turned-design-studio…
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Great Lakes By Design: Raising the Bar
CONTENTS DESIGN CORNER 17 Concrete Pig | a design-build furniture studio pushing the envelope of the expected through sculptural and often gravity-defying work in concrete and in wood 18 Encaustic | the investigative painter and sculptor who welcomes the unpredictable entropy of wax and mixed metals 19 Alt Pen | the minimalist ball point pen designed as a precision tool kit by a product design firm in Chicago DESIGN SPOTLIGHT 38 Catalyst for innovation | a Wisconsin-based biotechnology leader’s latest facility is a celebration of scientific discovery as it seeks to capture the spirit of collaboration and innovation 75 The Mill | the transformation of a manufacturing complex in Bloomington, Indiana reimagines the spaces as an innovation hub and…
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Enriched space
Communities are defined by a set of unspoken social and cultural norms, strengthened by shared beliefs and often united by similar factors such as inclusion, safety, education, engagement, and sustainability. While each is unique, there is a common potential and ability for fostering healthy, supportive environments for the people who make up that community. In Toronto, Ontario, ZAS Architects + Interiors Inc. sought to realize an innovative campus set among a sprawling vertical neighborhood intended to provide a shared social and educational space, and ultimately meant to cultivate that greater sense of community. Combining forces to create a learning and community nexus within Toronto’s downtown space, two publicly funded school…
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Ecosystems of design
A current marker of the advancements in sustainability and innovative thinking of modern architecture, the AIA’s COTE® Top Ten program entered its 25th year this year, with a slew of new awards for North America’s most ecologically groundbreaking works of architecture. Projects across typologies, from university libraries and the health sciences to commercial adaptive reuse and deep tech—such as Microsoft’s new Silicon Valley campus—hailed from areas across the continent, with two coming from the portfolio of the Toronto-based studio of the Chicago-headquartered Perkins + Will. An international design studio located in one of the world’s most culturally diverse cities, Perkins + Will envisions architecture as a vehicle for creating healthier…
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A leader in architecture
With a population that has grown nearly seven percent in a decade, and an ever-developing city core with new infrastructure, Grand Rapids, Michigan, has become a destination for living and working that is still uniquely malleable, in more ways than one. The city, the second largest in Michigan—but a relatively small one in the overall Midwest—is already an established 2030 District with goals of cutting net carbon emissions in half by 2030 and entirely by 2050, and it hosts a variety of restaurants and breweries that are certified B Corporations dedicated to nourishing sustainable and inclusive economies. Architecture plays a key part in the social and environmental wellbeing of a…
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Biophilic design, in study
In June 2020, Stantec, a global design firm, publicly released the results of a biophilic design research study aimed at identifying the correlation between individual workplace performance and holistic wellbeing conducted through the Healthy Building Program at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. While the concept of biophilic design has been studied in the healthcare setting, this particular study—sponsored by Stantec’s Creativity & Innovation program—identified some interesting tenets about human health and the body’s response to biophilic design in terms of healing and healing rates in a workplace that requires employees to be creative and innovative. “We, as an organization, have built our design ethos around the platform…
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Queries & Theories
Often the term “climate change” is registered as a broad, looming development that impacts the environment on a global scale. Those active in the discussion of climate action, however, would counter that it encompasses everything from rising oceans and individual mentalities to local communities and cultural heritage sites. As a forum for breaking into issues of climate change and the roles of climate action, the internationally renowned, full-service architectural and planning firm of Quinn Evans has launched a four-part webcast series called Queries & Theories. The series features thought leaders around the country in robust, 30-minute conversations centered on climate action and the continually evolving urban era in the context…
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ADFF: Toronto
“I always thought there was this intersection of architecture and film. It started for two reasons: one is that film is a great way to talk about architecture. There are ways you can see and feel the space in three dimensions. You can tell the backstory and the future story,” said Kyle Bergman, founder and director of the Architecture & Design Film Festival. “[Second], it is a way to expand the dialogue. As artists we talk amongst ourselves all the time. It’s dynamic, but film is an opportunity to expand on who comes to the conversation,” Bergman added. For its 11th season, the Architecture & Design Film Festival, or ADFF,…
