034 PROJECT 2
Previous page A striking
reception area. The 7ft-high
pink ‘C’ and ‘O’ letters let you
know you’ve arrived
Left The interior uses bright
colour blocking throughout
Right, top The Sharp Centre
for Design, part of the Ontario
College of Art and Design.
Caroline Robbie, project lead
for UCAD U CO, Quadrangle
principle, and also an OCAD
U graduate, was familiar with
the design language, having
worked on the Sharp Centre
project previously.
Right, bottom Note the
intended similarity between
the tiles in OCAD U CO’s
bathrooms and the Sharp
Centre for Design facadereferences the tabletop’s recognisable
elements via the interiors.
The interior design uses bright colour
blocking throughout, and the tabletop’s signature
‘pixelated’ corrugated aluminium facade is
replicated in OCAD U CO’s bathrooms, via a
graphically similar arrangement of black and
white square tiles. These colourful and graphic
elements serve as the visual counterpart to
OCAD U CO’s USP. As the company’s executive
director Kevin Morris explains: ‘The colour
scheme is meant to be shockingly vibrant. You
see a lot of muted blues in executive spaces.
We wanted people to feel slightly unhinged.’
Unhinged? The design doesn’t seem like it
would exactly unsettle its patrons, but
communicates ideas associated with creativity
and innovation: elements of play in a fluid and
adaptable environment. Colour demarcates
areas instead of physical barriers; informal
meeting areas can be found in corridors,
indicated by pockets of block colour, with wall,
colour and custom furniture colour-matched
to striking effect. Elsewhere, colour helps with
wayfinding: locker areas, for example, can be
identified by teal wall and floors complete with
custom-coloured Hadrian lockers.
But as with the Sharp Centre, the colourful
sections are not jumbled together, but set
against a neutral base palette of the white walls
and polished concrete floors. In other areas the
design toys with the usual application of interiormaterials: a pale wooden expanse that might
otherwise be flooring is flipped to provide a
suspended ceiling; playing with it one step
further, this is not a uniform and level plane,
but one broken up and angled in places, the
gaps between sections revealing the exposed
soffit. As a twist on the industrial stripped-back
look, the exposed parts are painted a bright
orange. The wooden panels are strategically
placed to hide the mechanical and electrical
elements that really do want hiding.
As might be expected of a building that
provides for collaborative innovation, there is a
mix of open spaces. There is the ‘transit zone’
for relaxed conversations over a drink or some
food, and the more focused and secluded
environment of the ‘innovation studio’.
Throughout, furniture, provided by Steelcase,
Herman Miller and KI among others, helps to
vary the feel and arrangement of the working
environments. Elements such as bright yellow
cable conduits marry flexibility with practicality,
so that users might rearrange the furniture to
suit their needs and still have a power supply.
On entering the space, visitors are greeted
by a reception area with striking, custom millwork
desks, a scattering of white cubes (Pirouette
rectangular nesting tables by KI) and most
notably of all, two 7ft-high letters, a ‘C’ and an
‘O’, in bright pink. While much of the design
communicates what is OCAD U about this space,
these letters unmistakably announce the CO.KEY SUPPLIERS
Walls
Benjamin Moore
benjaminmoore.com
Levey Industries
leveyindustries.com
Olympia Tile
olympiatile.com
Designtex
designtex.com
NGI Designer Glass
ngiglass.com
Print International
printinternational.ca
Flooring
Burmatex
burmatex.co.uk
Shaw
shawcontract.com
Interface
interface.com
Furniture
Allseating
allseating.com
Steelcase
steelcase.com
Keilhauer
keilhauer.com
Spec Furniture
specfurniture.com
Coalesse
coalesse.com
Herman Miller
hermanmiller.com
Teknion
teknion.com
KI
kieurope.comPROJECT INFO
Client
Sky
Interior design
Quadrangle
quadrangle.ca
M&E
Smith + Anderson
Contractor
The Daniels Corporation
Completion date
2018