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Sumit Singhal
Sumit Singhal loves modern architecture. He comes from a family of builders who have built more than 20 projects in the last ten years near Delhi in India. He has recently started writing about the architectural projects that catch his imagination. OCAD U CO in Toronto, Canada by QuadrangleApril 23rd, 2019 by Sumit Singhal
Article source: Quadrangle Taking advantage of its reputation as a hub for art and design education, Toronto’s OCAD U has established a start-up incubator and executive training hub called OCAD U CO, or CO for short, where public and private-sector clients can explore new pathways to thinking about innovation and problem-solving. On the fourth floor of the new Daniels Waterfront City of the Arts building on Toronto’s waterfront, the bright and expansive 13,000-square-foot facility conveys both creativity with professionalism, and has plenty of versatility to accommodate CO’s wide range of teaching and workshop styles and methodologies.  Image Courtesy © Adrien Williams
 Image Courtesy © Adrien Williams Creating the space had personal significance for project lead and Quadrangle principal Caroline Robbie, herself an OCAD graduate who worked with Will Alsop on OCAD U’s iconic main campus building, the Sharp Centre for Design, or the “Tabletop” as it’s commonly known. “We wanted to give the interiors similar design features to the Sharp Centre, particularly its quirkiness and its pixelated finish, to create a visual and psychological connection between the two campuses,” said Robbie. She added, “The design is also intended to jumpstart creative thinking: open and airy, with energizing jolts of colour.”  Image Courtesy © Adrien Williams  Image Courtesy © Adrien Williams Stepping off the elevator, guests are confronted by a bold orange ceiling and the letters CO, six feet high in bright pink. “The colour scheme is meant to be shockingly vibrant. You see a lot of muted blues in executive spaces,” said CO’s Executive Director, Kevin Morris. “We wanted people to feel slightly unhinged.” Colour blocking was also a simple and efficient way to mediate the scale of the tall, linear space and demarcate and differentiate its service areas — for example, the reception and service kitchen are dark blue, and meeting spaces are green, mauve and teal. At the same time, the colour blocking also creates visual impact and a memorable image already associated with the OCAD U brand — demonstrating the effectiveness of design in a space dedicated to the discipline.  Image Courtesy © Adrien Williams  Image Courtesy © Adrien Williams Passing through the dark blue reception area and coffee bar, one enters the Transit Zone, a linear space suitable for large events. Folding partitions can transform it into a series of innovation studios. That fluid adaptability, and the use of varying ceiling heights to practical and witty effect, continue throughout the space. Some acoustically insulated meeting rooms have glass fronts, while other, more casual nooks are low-ceilinged and open. Users can circulate easily between breakout groups, or hunker down in one place to hash out a complex problem. Small cubicles with benches are painted in bright primary colours and set into white corridor walls. The Tabletop’s signature black-and-white pixelation is quoted in the washrooms, and the bright colours and cut-out forms and are a tribute to Will Alsop’s playful and artistic designs. Floor-to-ceiling windows wrap around the facility, providing panoramic views of the downtown business district and the waterfront, underscoring the connection between the work done here and the larger world beyond.  Image Courtesy © Adrien Williams  Image Courtesy © Adrien Williams  Image Courtesy © Adrien Williams  Image Courtesy © Adrien Williams  Image Courtesy © Adrien Williams  Image Courtesy © Adrien Williams  Image Courtesy © Adrien Williams  Image Courtesy © Adrien Williams  Image Courtesy © Adrien Williams  Image Courtesy © Adrien Williams  Image Courtesy © Adrien Williams  Image Courtesy © Adrien Williams
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Categories: Interiors, Training centre |
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