I really enjoyed working on this job. My client was a young man that was not afraid of saturated colour or incorporating some sexy finishes. We gutted the condo to the walls (minus a few) and started from scratch.
Bri and I will be going over there for some professional shots, but I thought it would be fun to post some of my photos. What do you think?
One week ago I attended my fourth BuildEx at the Edmonton Expo Centre. I registered for three courses and spent the day taking in new information. BuildEx is also a great time to network with other professionals in the field as well as see what new items suppliers are offering at the trade show. For those of you that are architects, contractors, designers or property managers, it is worth the time.
Jeff Mowatt presents.
The Edmonton Expo Centre.
Imagine my excitement when Jim Hole offered to take me on a tour of the Hole family’s new The Enjoy Centre! I have been watching its development online with growing interest for many reasons. I had been hearing about the project from friends and colleagues. I love gardening, I am a big fan of Hole’s. I am excited about the partnerships they have formed in making this a destination place and I am very interested in all the sustainability issues the family has taken into consideration in the development of their new space.
I was thrilled by what I saw. I really cannot wait to see all the partners moved into this wonderful facility to create a great space, but also the opportunity to create community.
Take a moment to go to the website that explains more of the details and history behind The Enjoy Centre.
http://www.unearththepossibilities.com/w-welcome.asp
Lukas looks over the vast flooding floors in the new greenhouse, one of two. The water floods the floors, is drawn up by the plants and then what is not used, drains back into huge tanks for storage until needed. Jim said what would normally take six staff, will now take one to get the plants watered and fertilized.
Jim sharing the new event centre with us. They have been holding events in this space since November and are already booking into August 2012 for weddings.
Notice the cool “moonflower” on the post, they can be lit up in different colours. I think it looks like a giant morning glory blossom.
The event centre. Beautiful polished and heated concrete floors with gorgeous trusses from Holland.
The new Prairie Bistro counter and wine bar.
Prairie Bistro kitchen.
Dining area for the bistro. The wall of windows on the left look over the Lois Hole Centennial Provincial Park.
View of the outdoor deck. It has a skylight in the centre that brings light into the circular yoga studio below.
One of many staff office areas. Great use of wood in the ceilings here and in the spa.
The Water Garden spa entrance.
Meeting room outcrop and administrative offices. I was really amazed at the amount of light flooding the entire facility.
Office areas viewed from below. Marcia pointed out the modern interpretation of the barn shape. What a fun nod to family history.
The cash register and exit area. I love how the curves and light lead you to the exit.
I hope you enjoyed your “virtual tour” as much as I did the real one.
Thank you Jim Hole, for taking the time to share the new building with us.
I spent most of today in my daughters room putting the (almost) finishing touches on her recently re-designed room. The new drapes and upholstered dog bed have yet to be finished, but we were so excited, we had to post a few pictures.
I was on a very tight budget for a small office meeting space/lunch room renovation recently. I find the budget limits often force me to be more creative and I end up sourcing things from interesting places.
For this particular job, I spent a day scouring the city at second hand stores and architectural clearing houses. I ended up with two chrome chairs, a walnut credenza, legs for a board room table, some coloured glass pieces, a coffee table (from Populuxe), a couch and chair to decorate the “Mad Men” inspired space.
For the chrome chairs I designed a faux leather channel upholstery that was a definite improvement over the bedraggled corduroy.
Since eight foot board room tables can be crazy expensive, I had the legs added to Teregren‘s beautiful plyboo then finished it off with a simple french polish.
The couch and chair ended up being a big hit. As we were moving it into the office building we received offers to buy it off us, something we continued to hear after the installation.
This week I picked up chairs and a footstool that I had re-glued and upholstered for a client. These are custom built pieces that a great-aunt had crafted for herself then passed down through the family. They are quite interesting chairs with unique carvings, well worth the investment of rebuilding.
We wanted to go with a retro-glamour feel in the room that these pieces will be going in. I think the chairs will be an awesome addition with their new rich red, black and cream fabric. The drapery that is still in the work room is a creamy silk with crystals attached to it. I am excited to see it all together when it is finished.
I have wanted to go to The Merchandise Mart for forever. On the Friday of my visit to Chicago, Paul, Becky and I put on our walking shoes and took the train downtown. The Merch Mart building is huge with 18 floors of design showrooms. They were preparing for NeoCon so everywhere we went we got apologies about the “mess”. Most showrooms do not allow photographs so I had to content myself with lobby and exterior shots.
After a very full morning we went to lunch before we hit Design Within Reach and Room and Board where we found the perfect sectional and chair for the condo.
Paul and Becky in front of the Merch Mart elevators.
The entrance to the Merchandise Mart
Exterior shot
My tourist shot!
Paul and me in front of Design Within Reach.
A week ago I was in Chicago to work with a young professional couple on their condo interior (my brother Paul and sister-in-law-Becky). I had a bit of time when I first got in to do some site seeing so I took a two hour architectural tour and spent three hours at the Art Institute (it could have been three days). Chicago is an amazing city.
The Art Institute
Tiffany Glass dome in the Chicago Culture Center
Michigan Avenue
Franks Gehry's Pritzker Pavilion
The Bean at Millennium Park
The new modern wing of The Art Institute of Chicago
In winter I visited the Pacific Design Center in Los Angeles and have been meaning to write about it ever since. One of the many showrooms I went to was Espasso. Their space was filled with beautiful wood with gorgeous grains. I ended up spending quite a bit of time there as Felippe Rocha was so friendly and helpful. They also carry various accessories which includes some stunning flatware with a custom storage chest in freijo wood.
On Tuesday night I was fortunate enough to be part of an event co-hosted by Janice Lindsay and Pittsburgh Paint. Janice is travelling to promote her new book all about colour and Pittsburgh Paints exclusive colour collection based on her book. Following her inspiring talk, attendees were able to approach the four designers (of which I was one) for help concerning their colour dilemmas.
One of the statistics she shared that evening was that 70% of all paint sales are for white….I was shocked! I know she is preaching to the converted but 70%?! I love colour and most people I see are not walking around in all white outfits, so why do we feel the need to paint our walls all white?
Another thought that she shared that found me nodding in agreement was about the white ceiling. She talks about this in her book as well within the first few pages so you know she feels strongly about this. It could be as simple as a half tint of the wall colour, start to think about options instead of just white. Let’s get some colour on the ceiling!
