Return to the Workplace – Is Your Office Ready?
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By Erns Wall, Interior Designer
A year ago, during what felt like an incredibly long 3-month period of working from home during the first lock-down, I was getting ready to get back to the office and ‘get back to normal’. A lot of people - myself included - were under the impression that by September of last year the worst would all be behind us and COVID-19 would simply be a blip in our collective memories. Unfortunately, this was not the case, and a year later we are finding ourselves in the throes of another wave. But there is a light at the end of the tunnel – as more people get vaccinated and we work towards herd immunity it is looking again like maybe – just maybe – things could start to get back to normal this year. Optimists are again saying September, but a recent poll revealed the consensus that ‘normal’ will not be back until the spring of next year.
Zoning affects a city's social fabric
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By Brent Bellamy, Architect + Creative Director
Originally published in the Winnipeg Free Press
All North American cities use zoning to regulate the development of land and buildings. By assigning properties into different categories of parkland, commercial, residential and industrial uses, zoning establishes the rules for what can and can’t be built. The vast majority of residential neighbourhoods in Canadian cities fall under a single-family zoning category called R-1, which generally mandates a land use of one detached house per lot.
The first municipal zoning ordinance in North America was established in Los Angeles in 1908, to ensure factories were not being built beside houses. The move toward specific single-family zoning, however, has a much more disturbing origin, rooted in deliberate social impacts that continue to affect cities today.
Image: 5468796 Architecture - A proposed infill development in Osborne Village will add new residential options to a community that is already a diverse mix of single- and multi-family housing.
Wishing You Great Tidings of Comfort and Joy
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We’ve created a small collection of our favourite homemade holiday treats as a means to give warmth and cheer this season. May these recipes fill your hearts as they have ours.
Re-inventing School
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By Greg Hasiuk, Partner + Practice Leader
The digitization of our world has led many to question whether we really need physical schools to teach and learn. For them, the rapid evolution of remote communication, visualization and augmented reality will spell the end of schools as we know them. An all-inclusive world of virtual teaching and learning is an inevitable future for us all.
However, the pandemic lock-down of 2020 has made it obvious that our schools are not dead yet!
If anything, 2020 has reaffirmed the need for our schools. It has confirmed that a 21st Century education is much more than the core curriculum. It is more than simply conveying information to students. This is something any good teacher will tell you.
Image: École Sage Creek School, Winnipeg, MB
Be our Guest! Dining and Design during COVID-19
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By Caroline Grimes, Interior Designer
Dining out, something that was once a regular occurrence, something that was never really second guessed, is now something that everyone hesitates to do. Pre COVID-19 quarantine, going out for a bite to eat, ordering pizza because you didn’t feel like cooking, or even something as rudimentary as meeting someone at a restaurant for a date was a something out of everyday life.
Photo: The Forks Market with social distancing implemented (Brent Bellamy).
Number TEN Blog
Number TEN Inspired! captures the knowledge, passion and ideas of our award winning architects, interior designers and supporting staff, as they navigate through the complexities of the modern design landscape. We are creative problem solvers, advocates for better ways of doing things, and observers of all that is interesting and noteworthy in our field. This blog is our effort to share our knowledge and ideas in a way that resonates with everyone. Whether you work in the industry as an architect, interior designer, building manager, property developer, or are just someone with an interest in creativity and new ways of doing things, this blog has something for you.
