Public Spaces

Indigenous

Indigenous-led projects raise bar for city-building

The architects and developers behind some of Canada’s new Indigenous-focused projects are designing spaces that harmonize with their natural landscapes, setting a higher standard for how urban buildings impact the environment and their surrounding communities.
hospital

Smarter care at Vaughan’s first hospital

Through the doors of Cortellucci Vaughan Hospital, the first hospital to ever rise in Vaughan, Ontario, life’s health challenges are met with comfort, safety and lots of natural light.
neurodiverse

Creating a neurodiverse workplace

As employees eventually return to the office, most will bring with them a heightened sensitivity to their surroundings—specifically to what they touch and their proximity to coworkers.
healthcare facilities 

Guidelines inform resilient healthcare facilities 

Newly released guidelines offer a standard for approaching the planning and designing of healthcare facilities from a resiliency perspective.
pandemic

Pandemic expands an aging workforce

The pandemic is pushing people to reconsider their post-work-life ambitions.
retailers

What can the new workplace learn from retailers?

Just as bricks-and-mortar stores embraced experiential retail to entice consumers who might otherwise shop online, organizations are now hoping to woo their remote-savvy workers back to the office.
inclusive

A path to fully inclusive community hubs

The idea of creating inclusive community hubs—where people of all ages and abilities can gather together—is gaining significant momentum.
campus

Campus high-rise brings health to new heights

Dingy is a word that conjures thoughts of old institutional spaces. Academic buildings with dimly-lit hallways and windowless classrooms punctured with fluorescent glare. Rarely are
Indigenous

Indigenous voices hushed in planning processes

Indigenous communities across Canada continue to be sidelined or completely excluded from initial planning phases of new developments and renovations.
zero carbon

Ottawa hockey facility a zero carbon first

How AMPED Sports Lab and Ice Complex in Ottawa, Ontario, became the first Zero Carbon Building Performance Standard certified arena.
low-carbon

Can purchases help reverse global warming?

When considering products with recycled content, pay attention to the types of recycled materials that are in them.
toxic chemicals

What toxic chemicals are lurking in our buildings?

In the age of COVID, it's also important to consider how chemical exposures influence our ability to fight disease.
Inuit art

New home for world’s largest Inuit art collection

Qaumajuq, meaning “it is bright” or “it is lit” in Inuktitut, opens virtually this week, but the 40,000-square foot addition has been almost a decade in the making.
Edmonton Public Library

New chapter for Edmonton Public Library

The Edmonton Public Library recently revamped its flagship branch: the Stanley A. Milner Library.
hybrid office

The rise of the hybrid office

Ultimately, the hybrid office will have at its heart a planning principle based on people rotating in and out of the office, with flexible schedules they have more control over than ever.
Niagara Welland Commons

Niagara Welland Commons comes to light

Crafted into a mix of interconnected brick buildings circa 1970, Niagara Welland Commons brings natural light to a decades-old campus.
Post-secondary

How will campuses change because of COVID-19?

Colleges and universities are questioning how much space will be needed in the future campus, how it will be operated, and how to make our built environment more healthy, sustainable and resilient.