WINNIPEG - Allied Properties REIT

SUMMER 2011
THE ALLIED PROPERTIES REIT TENANT MAGAZINE
Photo: Pulp and Fiber
QUEBEC CITY • MONTREAL • TORONTO • WINNIPEG • KITCHENER • CALGARY • VANCOUVER • VICTORIA
[PAGE 12]
ATMOSPHERE
1,000-year-old North African aesthetics
meet contemporary lounging at
Front Street East’s BerBer Lounge.
[ PAGE 22 ]
THE RIGHT IDEA: How a small
Montreal ad firm’s neat and
nimble research process yields
surprisingly accurate creative.
[ PAGE 16 ]
From wayfinding to
websites: Toronto’s
Forge Media + Design
+
• Visual arts highlights from 5 years of Luminato
• Kobo launches eReader Touch
• Revolutionary Wellington Condos
TORONTO
[TECHNOLOGY]
STAYING IN touch
Global e-reading leader Kobo grows steadily as it launches its
latest generation touchscreen device – the first international e-reader.
Turn pages easily by tapping or
swiping the screen.
Equipped with the
newest Pearl E Ink
screen featuring
a 16-level grey scale,
the Kobo is designed
to be highly responsive.
At 4.5 by 6.5 inches, this one is
slightly smaller than the original
and designed to fit in your pocket.
A single ‘home’ button eliminates
control clutter so readers can
focus on reading.
LIBERTY VILLAGE,
TORONTO / – The Kobo
team is having a good run
of things. An operation that
began in a few spare square
feet of Indigo Books &
Music’s offices on King
Street West has had to move
twice since those December 2009 days to accommodate
its growth. Now in its third office (still in Allied space,
but now up to 37,000 square feet in Liberty Village), the
company is girding for more growth with the release of its
newest eReader Touch Edition, which will also be available
in French, German, Spanish and Italian so that readers
can enjoy a localized user experience and local content.
As founder Michael Serbinis noted in conversation with
the Allied Chronicle last year, people upgrade their cell
phones after a few years because technology changes.
And, in the world of e-readers, things are changing just as
rapidly. That’s why Kobo (an anagram for book) also puts
an emphasis on its e-reading software. No matter what
the device, your library of
e-books can travel with you.
While you can read your
Kobo books on android, iphone
and pads, the company has
moved to a next generation
infrared touch screen to make
the e-reading experience even more intuitive. Using the
latest Pearl E Ink technology, this reader allows you to
swipe to turn a page, highlight a phrase, look up a word,
zoom into an image, bump up your font size or just
quickly navigate through a book. Lacking the directional
pad and four side buttons of it predecessor, the latest
Kobo is designed to focus on reading.
Named one of e-reading’s powerhouses by Time.com*,
Kobo now has a catalogue of more than 2.3 million books,
newspapers and magazines. It has customers in more
than 100 countries, retailers in English speaking countries
and this spring announced the launch of stores in
Germany, Spain, Italy, France and the Netherlands.
*McCracken Harry, ‘Your Best eReader May Be No eReader,’ Jan. 20, 2011, Technologizer – Time.com
alliedpropertiesreit.com • 2
kobobooks.com
WINNIPEG
When foundation work
prompted a revamp of the
basement storage area,
architect tenants designed a
tidy 2,000-square-foot gym.
[ H E A LT H ]
New gym for Winnipeg tenants:
‘Found’ space creates an opportunity for healthier living.
EXCHANGE DISTRICT, WINNIPEG / – While the
idea of supporting health and wellness in the workplace is,
to Terry Cristall, common sense, sometimes going about
it wasn’t all that straightforward.
As CEO of Number 10 Architectural Group in
Winnipeg, he and his partners have always encouraged an
active lifestyle among the firm’s 84 employees, of which
60 work out of the Winnipeg office. They organized
participation in team events like dragon boat races, hosted
wellness themed barbecues, and even started bringing in
an aerobics instructor for midday classes in space they were
making available in their own offices. But it was this last
initiative that truly demonstrated the need for an on-site
gym facility.
“We were getting 10 to 15 people doing aerobics in our
office’s flex/project space. Not only was it getting crowded,
there also wasn’t a decent space where we could clean up
afterwards,” says Cristall whose 55-year-old firm specializes
in commercial, hospitality, institutional, education and
recreation design.
When the foundation work that was being done in their
building at 115 Bannatyne necessitated reworking the basement, Cristall and his team realized that a little bit of extra
effort could carve out a tidy 2,000-square-foot gym space.
With the consent and cooperation of Allied Properties
REIT, they designed a new space, laying down a rubber
sport floor and accommodating a good sized change room
and two shower stalls. Now, the brightly lit subterranean
space, with free weights, two stationary bikes and a
treadmill is getting regular use from individuals training
as it is from classes. And use is likely to increase in the
winter when Winnipeg temps keep employees indoors.
“This is great,” says Cristall. “We’ve always been
conscious of promoting a healthy lifestyle and having space
like this just makes it a better, healthier work environment.”
As for those aerobics classes, they’re still on every day,
and open to anyone in the building.
3 • SUMMER 2011
2007 Pulse Front: Relational Architecture 12 at Harbourfront Centre (Rafael
Lozano-Hemmer) was, at the time, the world’s largest interactive light sculpture.
Pi Media
2008 saw Slow Dancing by David Michalek at the University of Toronto campus
where large outdoor screens showed ultra-slow-motion photography of dancers
(a five-second gesture took 10 minutes of screen time).
2009 was the year of the red balls with David Rokeby’s Longwave featured in
Brookfield Place and Kurt Perschke’s RedBall Toronto popping up in seven
unexpected locations throughout the city to highlight unnoticed architecture
and prompt conversations.
2010 saw Ship O’ Fools (Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller), an actual ship
people could enter, installed in Trinity Bellwoods Park, and based on the
metaphor of the un-captained vessel full of aimless passengers absorbed in
vanity and frivolity.
2011’s Sargasso by Philip Beesley examined how architecture could
come alive, shifting and floating in Brookfield Place.
alliedpropertiesreit.com • 4
2007
2011
All photos by Luminato unless otherwise noted.
2009
2010
[ C U LT U R E ]
THE ART OF IMPACT
World theatre premieres and massive free concerts aside, most people know
Toronto’s Luminato fest is happening because they keep running into art.
QUEEN-RICHMOND CENTRE, TORONTO / – As 15-foot-high
red rubber balls go, it was generally loved and sometimes challenged.
That’s one of the things Robert VanderBerg remembers fondly from
his third year as the producer of Luminato’s visual arts program.
It has been a full five years since the city’s most encompassing arts
festival, featuring theatre, dance, music, literature, food, fashion,
film and visual arts came onto the scene. And while it has hosted a
number of world premieres and draws spectacular, thought-provoking
performances from around the globe, the visual arts program has
always functioned to announce the festival’s presence.
“Emphasis from day one was that the visual arts would be free,
open to the public, new to the city and in spaces you didn’t expect
to see art,” says VanderBerg, explaining that with the exception of
Brookfield Place, which has been both a spectacular venue and an
accommodating one, works are generally set up in new spaces
every year.
After its first year, Luminato began commissioning pieces for
certain spaces. So while 2007’s Pulse Front: Relational Architecture 12,
Mexican Canadian artist Rafael Lozano-Hemmer’s interactive light
sculpture at Harbourfront Centre, may have gone on to other cities
in some other form (including Vancouver for the winter Olympics),
most, such as this year’s Sargasso by Philip Beesley, which shifted and
floated above Brookfield’s Place’s madding crowd, are dismantled at
the end of the festivals’ 10-day run.
All that remains then are the memories of hundreds of thousands
who experienced these accidental encounters with art, and of course
several thousand images posted on Facebook and the like.
Luminato marks its fifth year
with the release of pictorial book
“Luminato began as a dream,” said its
co-founder David Pecaut, “a dream that each
year Toronto would invite the world to join
us in celebrating creativity.” Featuring more
than 250 images from Luminato events and
performances and written by acclaimed Toronto
author David Macfarlane, the book celebrates
the festival’s growth in five short years from
a neat idea to a remarkable event that has
drawn local, national, and international talent
and showcased the work of both emerging
and established artists. An original portraits
section by celebrated photographer Nigel
Dickson highlights the
contributions of the
people who make
Luminato happen:
volunteers, artists,
and the festival
supporters.
luminato.com
5 • SUMMER 2011
TORONTO
2008
[TECHNOLOGIE]
GFI Solutions : Des solutions
multiples et un service hors pair
Une des plus grandes firmes canadiennes de logiciels et de services
met à profit une forte culture d’entreprise.
Ces acquisitions lui ont également permis de développer
sa clientèle à l’échelle internationale et de conquérir des
marchés verticaux. Ainsi, en cinq ans, GFI Solutions a
multiplié par cinq ses revenus et son personnel.
Aujourd’hui, elle fournit des solutions d’affaires complètes
pour des municipalités, des professionnels du tourisme,
des entreprises de construction, de quincaillerie et de
rénovation, des garderies, des cabinets de notaires et de
comptables.
CITÉ MULTIMÉDIA, MONTRÉAL / – À la caisse
d’un magasin de grande surface, en train d’acheter des
fleurs pour son jardin, Gilles Létourneau se penche pour
examiner de plus près le logiciel de gestion de la caisse
enregistreuse. Remarquant son intérêt, la caissière explique
que le programme est très efficace, mais que le service
d’assistance technique l’est bien plus encore.
Ce logiciel n’est que l’un des quelque 40 logiciels
proposés par GFI Solutions, l’entreprise de Gilles
Létourneau, qui emploie aujourd’hui près d’un millier
de personnes. Il était plus que ravi d’entendre ce
commentaire sur la qualité du service.
« Nous avons des centaines de représentants du service à
la clientèle. Le service est ce qu’il y a de plus important
dans une entreprise comme la nôtre. S’il n’est pas à la
hauteur, les clients en parlent entre eux », explique Gilles
Létourneau depuis ses bureaux situés au 75 rue Queen à
Montréal, où son entreprise occupe deux étages.
LES SOLUTIONS ERP LES PLUS DEMANDÉES
SUR LE MARCHÉ Depuis sa fondation en 1988, GFI
Solutions a réalisé d’importantes acquisitions et conclu
plusieurs partenariats. Ses dernières acquisitions,
activeMedia, Fortsum Solutions d’affaires (aujourd’hui
GFI Solutions PME), Bell Solutions d’affaires (aujourd’hui
GFI Solutions d’affaires) et Accovia, l’ont aidée à élargir sa
mission et à atteindre son objectif : passer d’un fournisseur
de services à fournisseur de produits et de services.
alliedpropertiesreit.com • 6
Si GFI Solutions s’impose sur le marché depuis plus
de 20 ans, il faut savoir que certaines de ses filiales sont
en activité depuis plus longtemps encore. Son équipe se
compose d’experts spécialisés dans quelques-unes des
solutions ERP les plus demandées sur le marché : Sage
Accpac, SAP Business One, Microsoft Dynamics GP,
Microsoft Dynamics AX et IFS. À ces experts s’ajoutent
des spécialistes d’Acomba et d’Avantage qui connaissent
sur le bout des doigts ces deux solutions de comptabilité
utilisées par dizaines de milliers de PME du Québec.
UNE FORTE CULTURE D’ENTREPRISE Aujourd’hui,
quelque 55 000 clients canadiens comptent sur les
technologies de GFI Solutions pour le paiement des
salaires, le traitement de transactions, le transport de
marchandises et la gestion des innombrables éléments
logistiques qui permettent à une économie de fonctionner.
Mais la mise au point de ces solutions ne constitue que
la moitié du travail, les services d’assistance technique étant
le côté davantage public du mandat. Quoiqu’il en soit, la
bonne marche de ces deux fonctions ensemble exige une
forte culture d’entreprise.
« Au Québec, il est difficile de trouver des candidats
qualifiés et lorsqu’on les a trouvés, il faut les garder motivés
et impliqués », poursuit Gilles Létourneau en expliquant
que sa société organise des concours de « valeurs d’entreprise » qui permettent à des milliers d’employés de rédiger
des témoignages sur la signification pour eux de certaines
valeurs, à la fois dans leur vie professionnelle et personnelle.
Par ailleurs, elle s’est dotée d’un programme de gestion de
la contribution stimulant pour les employés. C’est ainsi que
GFI Solutions invite les gens à « venir faire leur marque »
et s’assure d’offrir une rémunération compétitive et des
plans de développement personnalisés à ses employés.
gfisolutions.com
MONTRÉAL
One of the largest software and
consulting firms in Canada,
Montreal’s GFI Solutions fosters
a culture of service.
Gilles Létourneau was buying flowers for his garden at
a Montreal big box hardware when he leaned over the
counter to peek at the software running the cash register.
Noticing his interest, the cashier said the system was
good, but that the technical support was great.
CLIENTS TALK It’s just one of the forty-odd software
products his 1,000-employee firm offers, this one built
specifically for the hardware industry, but Létourneau
was especially proud to hear the service comment.
“We have hundreds of customer service representatives. Service is very important for an organization like
ours and if you deliver bad service, clients will talk,”
he says form his office at 75 Queen Street in Montreal
where GFI Solutions occupies over two floors.
SIGNIFICANT ACQUISITIONS Since 1988, GFI Solutions
has been on a path marked by a series of significant
acquisitions and partnerships. Its most recent acquisitions,
ActiveMedia, Fortsum Business Solutions, Bell Business
Solutions, and Accovia, have helped the company broaden
its mission and complete the shift from being a services
provider to being a products and services provider.
The acquisitions have also helped it expand its client
base internationally and conquer vertical markets so that
over a five-year period, GFI Solutions has increased its
annualized revenues and employee base fivefold. Now
it provides business solutions for municipalities, travel
professionals, the construction industry, hardware and
renovation centres, daycares, notaries, and accountants.
“
« Au Québec, il est difficile de
trouver des candidats qualifiés et
lorsqu’on les a trouvés, il faut les
garder motivés et impliqués »
IN-DEMAND ERP SOLUTIONS Indeed, while the
company itself has been making its mark for over
20 years, some of its subsidiaries have been on the
scene for even longer. Its team brings together experts
specializing in some of the most in-demand ERP
solutions on the market: Sage Accpac, SAP Business
One, Microsoft Dynamics GP, Microsoft Dynamics AX, and
IFS. And then there’s its Acomba and Avantage experts
who know everything there is to know about the most
popular accounting solutions used by Quebec SMBs.
– Gilles Létourneau, Président et chef de la direction
7 • SUMMER 2011
LEFT: Working with Nokia in the U.S., OneMethod helped
launch the Nokia Astound, a competitor to the iPhone.
BELOW: The Notebook, whose look was inspired by
1st generation Macs, began as a gift to clients, but is
now available for sale.
ABOVE: Staff and guests enjoy a La Carnita ‘pop-up taco stand’ as OneMethod principals test an idea and indulge in a passion for cooking.
alliedpropertiesreit.com • 8
TORONTO
“
“Not a lot of shops in the city combine the creative
thinking of ad agencies with the technical influence of
a development shop. We sit in the middle of that.”
– Steve Miller, Creative Director
[MARKETING]
OneMethod’s Two Sides
King West digital and design firm builds a collaborative
environment where high concept meets technical development.
KING WEST CENTRAL, TORONTO / – When
creativity strikes, almost every surface at OneMethod’s
second storey space at 445 King Street West has the
potential for brainstorming or sketching out ideas.
Steve Miller’s desk, for example, is a whiteboard,
and so is every office door (one staffer, a graffiti artist,
draws his ideas on a window).
“It’s a very entrepreneurial place and we’re always
trying new things,” says Miller, the digital and design
firm’s creative director.
“It changes almost weekly in terms of what we’re doing,
what we’re interested in, what’s coming up next, and
that keeps us fresh and makes this a great place to work,”
he says, having recently completed a June move that saw
his firm shift from another Allied building to this cozy,
central spot on King Street West.
OneMethod’s technical and creative staff works with
social media, video production, mobile technology and
interactive media to produce fun and highly effective
marketing and advertising. In March, they completed a
campaign for Canadian company Targetvacations.ca,
a client for the past five years.
“Business was picking up, so they wanted to raise their
social awareness,” recalls Miller.
DRIVING SALES UP 45% The client, which operates much
like itravel2000.com but on a smaller scale, didn’t have the
budget for TV ads or billboards, but Miller’s creative team
didn’t think that was necessary. Instead they launched a
contest called “Where’s the Beach?” An app on the Target
Vacations Facebook fan page featured a photo of an
anonymous beach, and a pull-down menu for guessing
its location.
“If you guessed right, you were entered to win a trip to
a sunny destination,” Miller says. “Target Vacations gave
away eight trips (donated by Sunquest and other sponsors)
over four months.”
From November 2010 to March 2011, Target Vacations
went from 500 Facebook fans to 8,000. The campaign
brought sales up to 45% more than the previous year, an
18% increase in profits.
CREATIVE MEETS TECH OneMethod also worked on a
U.S. project this year launching the Nokia Astound, a
competitor to the iPhone. The campaign included a video
on T-Mobile’s and Nokia’s websites, a homepage takeover,
in-store promotional materials and more.
As for OneMethod’s work environment, Miller describes
it as “flat”, that is, without much hierarchy. “And there’s
very little suit-wearing,” he says. (Wearing jeans, a black
shirt with rolled-up sleeves, and a pair of Converse, he was
“dressed up” to meet with a client.)
In traditional ad firms, an art director and copywriter
travelled from shop to shop and worked on ads together.
A more likely pair at OneMethod would be a designer
and a tech person. Unlike other shops, many of which
build banner ads, websites and so on, OneMethod focuses
more on designing the concept, ideation and strategy.
“Not a lot of shops in the city combine the creative
thinking of ad agencies with the technical influence of a
development shop,” Miller says. “We sit in the middle
of that, which is what we like.”
onemethod.com
9 • SUMMER 2011
[RETAIL]
IN CONTROL
Where home electronics used to just be about stereos and TVs, Calgary’s Ban
STEPHEN AVE, CALGARY / – If James Bond were
staff arrive at your home, and when they have left and
shopping for a system to manage his expensive gadgets
locked up.
and the security of his home and family, you’d likely find
“When I was young and foolish,” he says, “while talking
him at Bang & Olufsen Custom Home on Stephen
to clients I would say things like, ’Wouldn’t it be cool if…’
Avenue in Calgary. The company’s exclusive retailer
and the client often said ’Yeah? Can you make that happen?’
for the prairie provinces, this location serves well-heeled
And often I didn’t know if we could, but we did it. And to
clients from Victoria through to Niagara and into the US.
this day we have yet to not make a client’s dream come to
And most – including a lot of oil
reality or turn down a project.”
executives – want more than TVs
Lane’s family has a history of
and stereos.
"To this day we have
selling audio-visual equipment, but
Maybe you’re finishing your winter
the idea of integrating A/V with
yet to not make a client’s
getaway and you want your home to
security, lighting and whole home
dream come to reality
be nice and warm when you walk in.
control developed later when he
Scot Lane, president of Bang &
or turn down a project.”
opened B&O Custom Home.
Olufsen Custom Home can have his
Set in a 10-year-old structure
– Scot Lane, president,
team design a system that lets you turn
that
was built on condition it reflect
B&O Custom Home
up your house’s heat from your iPhone
the style of the historic buildings on
while you’re still in Key West.
Stephen Avenue mall, the space
Or maybe you’re getting to the good part of a movie and
includes a basement warehouse, a first floor B&O product
the doorbell rings. No need to get up – an image on your
showroom, and a second floor “Integration” area, displaying
screen can display your security camera view of who’s at the
the wonders of what can happen when you combine
door. And what if you want to keep an eye on your house
high-end design with advanced technology. This is where
while on business in Hong Kong? Lane and his team will
you’ll find a full-scale state-of-the-art home theater.
make you a custom tool that alerts you when your cleaning
“
alliedpropertiesreit.com • 10
CALGARY
ng & Olufsen Custom Home has come to specialize in truly unique solutions.
Not that you can tell from outside. From street level the
goings-on are fairly discreet until someone walks into the
spacious first floor showroom. “And when they get to the
second floor, they gasp,” Lane says.
And while the larger-than-life spectacle of a home theatre
display is always awe inducing, the future of home electronics
is in some ways, much smaller. “It’s an “iWorld” out there,”
says Lane, explaining that nowadays everyone wants to run
their life with an iPad or iPhone.
“While we can make our systems work on clients’ smartphones,” he says, “we won’t set up your i-whatever as the only
control point of your whole home control system. Otherwise,
when Apple changes its software it might wreak havoc with
your ability to control your DVD collection, lighting or home
security. So we always have at least one OEM controller that
the clients can fall back on.”
This work is so intricate that one missed wire can affect
the whole system. A project can take six months to a year to
complete, and Lane’s staff sometimes works long hours.
“We’ll do whatever we have to because we’re passionate
about it,” Lane says. “Anyone can go out and sell audio-visual
equipment but because this is such a unique product line, if
you’re not into it, you won’t get it. It’s a lot of fun.”
B & O Custom Home’s building was built 10 years ago on
condition it respect the historic architecture around it.
bocustomhome.com
11 • SUMMER 2011
[RESTAURANT]
NORTH AFRICAN
NIGHTS
By Yvan Marston
Beber Lounge’s décor, all imported, earned a certificate of authenticity for
representing Moroccan culture from the country’s consulate in Ottawa.
alliedpropertiesreit.com • 12
TORONTO
“
“The idea was always to create a
space for laid-back fine dining.”
– Angela Panigas, owner, BerBer Lounge
Tucked neatly below Front Street East’s Sultan’s Tent, BerBer Lounge’s hammered
wrought iron entrance panels, handcrafted brass light fixtures, pillowed seating
and live music blends 1,000-year-old aesthetics with contemporary lounging.
ST. LAWRENCE MARKET AREA, TORONTO / – It’s
easy to assume much of the décor that gives BerBer Lounge
its classical North African feel was imported. But the fact is
that it was all imported.
Owner Angela Panigas and her husband made four
separate trips to Morocco totaling 10 weeks during which
they bought camel-skinned leather stools, handmade
Berber carpets, and countless antique accessories. They also
commissioned ornate hand-carved and -painted panels to
complement the brass ceilings and brought a space plan to
share with Moroccan lighting experts who would design
the glass globes and brass fixtures that now infuse the
subterranean space with the sense of a secret lair.
Four shipping containers and two years later, BerBer
Lounge sits poised and proud receiving a regular flow of
Thursday, Friday and Saturday night diners and loungers.
Initially perceived as an alternate to the reservations-only
Sultan’s Tent upstairs, the Berber Lounge has become
increasingly popular with the young professional crowd
for its combination of authentic décor and serious
lounge vibe.
“The idea was always to create a space for laid-back
fine dining,” says Panigas, who in her former life as a
marketer worked with the original owners of Sultan’s
Tent and eventually bought the business.
BerBer Lounge is her second restaurant and operates a
completely separate kitchen from the one upstairs, which
serves French-Moroccan food. Rather, this one dishes
Southern Mediterranean fare in full four-course style or
sharing platters.
But it is a lounge, and the intricately-carved wood
separators, ornate coffee tables and low-slung padded
benches piled with textured pillows are all meant to give
your meal an informal quality. “Like you’re sitting in
your living room sharing a meal,” says Panigas.
Like its Berber namesake, the menu wanders throughout
the Mediterranean, drawing as much on France, Greece
and Spain as it does on North Africa. Currently, Italy
is dominating the four-course offering with a starter
featuring bocconcini cheese marinated in chili, mint and
lime skewered with seasoned sun-dried tomatoes, and
followed by such mains as a prosciutto wrapped chicken
supreme or a six-ounce filet of fresh Mahi Mahi, baked
and topped with scallions and fresh basil.
Surrounded by artisanal handmade luxuries collected
from the winding alleys of the Moroccan Medinas,
the lounge has played host to bridal showers, stags and
stag-ettes, rehearsal dinners, and weddings, as well as
to corporate functions and product launches. The DJ
booth’s wireless microphone set up combined with the
strategically-placed in-wall speakers and two 50-inch
flat-panel televisions give business events polished
audio-video presentation options in a unique setting.
While the Berber Lounge is still building its reputation
as a corporate events place, its vibe as an exotic,
chilled-out space for a fine casual meal has grown steadily.
“You know those nights where you are sitting at home
thinking about ordering something in and eating in your
living room? Well you can do that here,” says Panigas,
adding that after 10:00, things are likely to get a little
more interesting here than at home.
beberlounge.ca
13 • SUMMER 2011
[MARKETING]
La loi du plus grand nombre
Sous le ton jeune et quelque peu irrévérencieux d’Écorce se cache une stratégie
bien étudiée et un sens affûté des médias sociaux. Par Yvan Marston
A display at Écorce’s
St. Laurent Blvd
studio demonstrates
the evolution of a
branding project for
the Festival du
Nouveau Cinéma.
BLVD ST-LAURENT,
MONTRÉAL / – « Nos
meilleurs projets sont ceux
dans lesquels on est
impliqués dès le tout début
», explique Karl-Frédéric
Anctil, en frottant sa barbe de deux jours sous la chaleur
exceptionnelle de ce jour de mai.
Avec sa dizaine d’employés et son portefeuille rempli de
projets de conception Web et de design graphique, notamment dans les domaines de l’événementiel, des médias sociaux et même de la conception de livres, Écorce, une agence
de design créatif créée il y a six ans, est gérée par KarlFrédéric Anctil et Véronique Desrosiers, spécialiste de
stratégie Web.
DE LA CONCEPTION À LA RÉALISATION FINALE Fière de
son talent pour comprendre les besoins de ses clients et
proposer des concepts créatifs qui y répondent, l’équipe
d’Écorce réalise ses meilleures performances lorsqu’elle est
impliquée dans ses projets dès le stade conceptuel.
Quand le Cirque du Soleil cherchait de l’aide pour
développer un projet de commerce électronique qui lui
permettrait de s’associer avec des illustrateurs et des artistes
alliedpropertiesreit.com • 14
de rue émergents afin de créer pour sa tournée des affiches
à tirage limité, ses responsables se sont adressés à Écorce
avec une idée : chaque œuvre originale sera inspirée par
les spectacles et créée spécifiquement pour chaque ville de
la tournée. Aujourd’hui, tout le monde peut acheter ces
affiches reproduites en quantité limitée par le biais du site
Safewalls.org, élaboré par Écorce dans le cadre d’un projet
plus large de développement global de la marque.
Chaque artiste ayant un réseau, l’emploi d’artistes
locaux émergents apporte une connectivité régionale au
projet. Cette approche qui s’appuie sur le rôle du réseau
se retrouve aussi dans les stratégies Web d’Écorce.
CONSTRUIRE UN RÉSEAU Autre projet qui fut un grand
succès, les Interwebs 2010, avait pour but d’entrer en
relation avec des blogueurs et des humoristes de la scène
montréalaise. L’idée était de demander à plusieurs
blogueurs, suivis par l’équipe d’Écorce, de contribuer à
une rétrospective de l’année 2010. Sous la forme d’un
calendrier, le projet révélait à chaque jour de décembre
une nouvelle chronique rédigée par un blogueur différent –
meilleures vidéos de l’année, meilleures créations de logos,
satires exclusives de vidéos virales – qui examinait l’année
écoulée en fonction de son expertise.
Beneath Écorce’s young,
irreverent tone lies thoughtful
strategy and social media savvy.
“The best projects are the ones we can get involved with
from the very start,” says Karl-Frédéric Anctil rubbing
the two-day stubble on his chin one unseasonably warm
day in May.
Outside, Montreal’s construction season has begun
and from the sounds of it, not much is moving along
St. Laurent Blvd. But here in this open concept sixth floor
studio, filled with the whirr of desktop fans and the light
buzz of work conversation, things are progressing nicely
for this six-year-old agency.
With a dozen employees and a plump portfolio of web
and design projects that includes some very perceptive
social media work, event organizing and even book design
Écorce, whose management Anctil shares with web
strategist Véronique Désrosiers is sticking to its roots as
a niche creative.
Quarante des 68 recettes de
ce livre conçu avec l'aide
d'Écorce proviennent de
blogeurs, ce qui donne
40 ambassadeurs
de ce projet.
When Cirque du Soleil was looking for help developing
an e-commerce project that would see it team up with
emerging street artists and illustrators to create posters for
its touring show, they approached Écorce with just an idea:
Each original art poster would be inspired by touring
shows and made specifically for the cities in which they
were presenting. Now anyone can buy these limited edition
prints through the Safewalls.org site designed by Écorce.
Using emerging local artists allows a level regional
connectivity as each of those artists has a network. It is a
pattern that repeats itself in Écorce’s web strategies.
CRÉATIF PAR ESSENCE Quand une ancienne de l’équipe
d’Écorce, devenue nutritionniste, a cherché à compiler un livre
de recettes végétariennes pour les non-végétariens, ses anciens
collègues ont non seulement conçu le livre, mais l’ont aussi
aidée au niveau du contenu en demandant à des blogueurs de
fournir des recettes. Sur la base du principe selon lequel « on
peut apprécier des recettes végétariennes, sans être végétarien »,
on demandait aux blogueurs de partager recettes et anecdotes.
Quarante des 68 recettes publiées proviennent de ces internautes.
« Ce qui a donné 40 ambassadeurs de ce livre », explique
Véronique Desrosiers, avant d’ajouter que sa publication avait
créé une certaine fébrilité parmi les internautes depuis le mois de
juillet 2010, huit mois avant sa parution au printemps dernier.
Connue dans certains cercles pour ses compétences en design
et dans d’autres pour son sens affûté des médias sociaux, Écorce
se voit fondamentalement comme un atelier créatif.
« Mais nous ne concevons rien dans le but d’être tape-à-l’œil »,
explique Karl-Frédéric Anctil. « Il y a toujours un objectif, une
stratégie. L’écorce, c’est simplement la partie de l’arbre que l’on
voit, mais ça prend le tronc et les racines pour l’alimenter. »
Interweb 2010 was project conceived to connect with
bloggers and became an easy hit. The idea was to get
bloggers the Écorce team followed to contribute to a
review of 2010. Each day in December featured a new post
by a different blogger – best videos of the year, top new
logos, etc – each examining the past year in terms of their
expertise.
“A lot of bloggers were discovered because we were
asking people from specific niches to contribute to this.
So the audience from one blog would visit Interweb and
view other blogs,” says Desrosiers, the firm’s social media
strategist.
Hoping to make it an annual project, Interweb served
not only to raise Écorce’s profile, but to give it a level of
credibility among bloggers.
“A lot of agencies want bloggers to just talk about their
stuff,” adds Anctil, “but we were asking bloggers to be
involved directly in a part of the creative project. If they
liked doing it, they’ll talk about it.”
ecorce.ca
15 • SUMMER 2011
MONTRÉAL
« Nombre de blogueurs sont sortis de l’ombre à cette occasion
parce qu’on demandait à des gens ayant une expertise particulière
de participer. Donc les lecteurs d’un blogue particulier se rendaient
sur le site lesinterwebs.com et pouvaient y lire d’autres blogues »,
affirme Véronique Desrosiers, responsable de la stratégie pour les
médias sociaux.
Espérant en faire un événement annuel, Écorce, par le biais
des Interwebs, a cherché non seulement à rehausser son profil,
mais aussi à gagner une certaine crédibilité auprès des blogueurs.
« Beaucoup d’agences demandent aux blogueurs de parler de
leurs projets », ajoute Karl-Frédéric Anctil, « nous, nous leur
avons demandé de participer directement à une partie du projet
créatif et de s’amuser avec nous. Si ça leur plaisait, ils en
parleraient à coup sûr. »
[DESIGN]
A DESIGNED EXPERIENCE
From wayfinding to websites, Toronto’s Forge Media + Design looks at its projects
and its workplace in terms of user experience.
By Micayla Jacobs
FINDING UNIQUE WAYS TO MAKE THINGS HAPPEN “Never
settle for the status quo,” says Tschudin when describing
the agency. Indeed, Forge is all about trying to find unique
ways to make things happen, whether it is web design work
for Apple Canada or an entire signage and wayfinding system
for the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg.
They look to use unique materials, take advantage of
landmark placement and use light in interesting ways.
It is also very important to Tschudin and his co-founders
to deliver the whole package. Forge has graphic design
capabilities, as well as programmers and an environmental
graphics team – therefore everything is taken care of,
including installation. “It’s not just about specifying the
materials needed, but presenting a complete package from
A to Z,” he emphasizes.
LIBERTY VILLAGE, TORONTO / – Forge Media +
Design has a thing for experience: the experience that is
offered to the client, the experience that is realized by the
consumer, and the experience that it creates for its employees.
Firm principals Gregory Neely, Stüssy Tschudin and
Laurence Roberts came together in 2005 as a small,
traditional graphic design firm, but quickly grew to a team
of 18 offering a broad range of services.
In addition to website design and development, signage
and wayfinding, corporate branding and print work,
Forge has mastered the art of creating innovative media
installations, including the design and development of
digital content for touchscreens, kiosks and art installations.
Despite this broad offering, Forge remains focused on
the concept of shaping experiences, while ensuring that their
employees love coming to work.
alliedpropertiesreit.com • 16
VYING TO BE TOP ENVIRONMENTAL GRAPHICS FIRM
That mentality has served them well as this growing shop
has already won the Association of Retail Environments
Award for lighting design and installation. A more than
‘nice-to-have’ award for a team vying to be the number one
firm in environmental graphics in Canada.
Tschudin attributes a lot of Forge’s success to the office
culture that has been cultivated. The company’s HR
philosophy says it all: Forge is all about “working together
to boldly create functionally beautiful experiences, broaden
horizons, inspire and open minds to new possibilities.”
It is very important that the employees go into work every
day happy to be there, because that is when the best work
is done. To achieve this, team activities are a must, as is a
communal foosball table for onsite stress relief.
Based in Liberty Village and with a growing array of
major clients, Forge is building a solid reputation for itself
as a creative shop with a unique ability to fuse design,
communication and technology to build comprehensive
solutions with harmony, elegance and function.
Forgeinc.ca
TORONTO
17 • SUMMER 2011
[RESIDENTIAL]
Wellington Condo
Features Flexibility
Easy-to-relocate walls and raised floor system allows owners with two units t
KING WEST CENTRAL, TORONTO / – For most of
us, city living is a matter of compromise. To be in to the
core, you have to accept smaller living space. But then life
changes and you look for something bigger, a starter home.
Downtown living in North American cities, however, is
increasingly unaffordable, so you widen your search.
“What people are looking for is a place to grow, but
really they want to live downtown. That’s our idea, is
getting people into space that can grow with downtown,”
explains Dermot Sweeny, a principal at Sweeny Sterling
Finlayson &Co Architects Inc. and one of the minds
behind 508 Wellington, a condominium project designed
to provide the opportunity for a truly urban life.
alliedpropertiesreit.com • 18
With an entry level cost that is said to be much less
than a quality home within 10 miles of the core, buyers
can purchase more than one unit and use them in any
number of ways.
“You can get three units of space and have three independent
suites – one to live in and two to rent, or you can combine
two to make one big suite and rent the small one, or vice
versa,” says Sweeny, explaining that it’s a good solution for
people trying to build equity. If an owner is single, they
might only need one of the suites. The rental income can
help to pay for additional suites she can grow into.
“If you have a family, take more space. When the kids
leave, consolidate into smaller space,” says Sweeny.
TORONTO
With an entry level cost that can be much less
than a quality home within 10 miles of the core,
buyers can purchase more than one unit and
use them in any number of ways.
o expand or contract for any life stage.
You couldn’t do this in most condominium buildings,
but this one is different. It has no concrete shear walls and
therefore no concrete demising walls. All the loads/slabs
are carried on small simple concrete columns at the exterior
and only a minimal number within the space.
What’s more, most of the area in each unit is made of a
modular reconfigurable raised floor system which is 10”
above the concrete slab. This allows the builders and the
future owners to reconfigure units without penetrating the
slab or the suite below. Drains, taps and plumbing are all
in the raised floor. Connection is easily made to strategically
place plumbing risers – you could move your shower or
move the kitchen with relative ease. The raised floor area is
only on the entry side of the suite so you step down into
sunken living areas with 9’-0" ceilings.
There are also some savings to be had in the initial
purchase. Since base units are sold as small, i.e., one bedroom
apartments, they fall below the 13% HST tax threshold
to be paid on residences over the $400,000. This saves the
purchaser of a large unit (i.e.: can buy 2 or more smaller
ones and combine them) a great sum of money.
“This project is a machine for living,” says Sweeny,
explaining that its flexibility is designed to accommodate life
changes. And the cost to transform a unit is estimated to be
less than a third of the cost of a major home renovation.
thisisdowntown.ca
19 • SUMMER 2011
TOTUM TIPS
THE PORTABLE WORKOUT
Totum’s sport strength specialist gets back to basics for
a routine you can do almost anywhere.
Travel workouts are never easy to schedule, that’s why Joanna Zdrojewska, a personal trainer at Totum
Life Science on King advises her clients to use short intense sessions.“Don’t stress about getting a full
workout in, just get up and do it,” she says.
Three to four days off won’t hurt your progress, in fact, she says, if you are in a particularly demanding
program, this can offer a bit of recovery, “but don’t let your nutrition lapse.” If you do go past five days,
she explains, you will start to see a noticeable loss in training (e.g., you might not lift the same maximum
you did the week before).
Conditioning, as the term implies, is a temporary state: you have to build up to it and then you have
to maintain it. Here are three exercises you can combine with a 20-minute run to stay active, wherever
you happen to be.
PUSH UPS
SIT UPS
Zdrojewska
SQUAT
WHY: Because push ups engage muscle
WHY: Because ab crunches do nothing for
groups in the arms, chest, abdomen, hips
and legs.
your core. Sit ups, however, work the whole
core and a stronger core stabilizes the spine.
WHY: Because the squat uses almost
every muscle in your body and burns a lot
of calories.
1
1
1
2
2
2
3
HOW:
1. Start with your hands placed just
wider than your shoulders (not too far
forward). Your body should be taught
and in a straight line from head
to ankles.
2. Lower yourself until your chest almost
touches the floor.
3. Do three sets of 10.
NOTES: “Focus on good form rather than
number of push ups,” says Zdrojewska,
explaining that as you tire, your form
devolves and you get less benefit from
the exercise.
HOW:
HOW:
1. Lying on the floor, knees bent 90 degrees
and feet flat on the ground, keep your
hands up near your head.
2. Tuck your chin in, contract your abs and
roll steadily up until your chest almost
touches your knees.
3. Start with three sets of 10.
NOTES: If your feet are lifting off the ground,
it means your hip flexors are tight and/or your
core is weak, she says. This is how you make
them stronger.
1. With your feet shoulder width apart, toes
lined up and spine in neutral position,
lower yourself by pushing your hips
back as you sink down onto your heels.
2. Drive up through your heels to get
back up.
3. Do three sets of 10 and if that’s too
easy hold a weight in front of you.
NOTES: “Keep your chest out and your
weight back on your heels. A common
mistake is to shift forward on onto your
toes,” says Zdrojewska.
For videos on fitness, to read the Wellness Blog or to sign up for a FREE week at Totum Life Science on King Street West, visit Totum.ca
alliedpropertiesreit.com • 20
TORONTO
[ H E A LT H ]
SOUTHERN HEAT
Tula South’s newest studio offers Liberty Villagers hot yoga, pilates, and spa
treatments in a brightly lit oasis of calm.
LIBERTY VILLAGE, TORONTO / – The gentle strains
of a sitar set to a contemporary beat imbue this downtown
south west yoga studio’s greeting space with a calm furthered
still by the steady rush of a ten-foot stainless steel water
feature. Deep brown hardwood floors set against crisp white
walls and exposed brick come together to form a modern
aesthetic that is as clean as it is serene.
“The idea for the lobby is: earth, water and fire,” explains
Donna Wong, tracing a line with her slim finger from the
decorative tree-patterned wallpaper, to the glistening water
accent and over to the incendiary yellow and red hues of
the sandblasted brick wall.
A yoga practitioner for nine years and studio co-owner
with Tula founder Isabel Lambert since the winter, Wong is
keen to share all aspects of the lower level space at 47 Fraser
just off Liberty Street that she describes as an urban oasis.
“A lot of other places will just do yoga, but we look at
overall wellness. We have a registered massage therapist,
aesthetics, nutrition. It’s a really broad approach to offer
services that will heal the body and nourish the soul.”
The third Tula Yoga studio to crop up in Toronto in the
last six years, the space’s central purpose revolves around a
1,200-square-foot ‘hot’ studio. Ceiling-mounted heating
panels raise the bright room’s ambient temperature from
35 to 40 degrees Celsius.
In this atmosphere, students run through yoga postures
and breathing exercises in 45 to 75 minutes long sessions
described variously as Hot Hatha, Hot Power Flow, Hot
Pilates, Fusion and Yin classes. The studio offers regular
temperature Yoga and Pilates, as well as the popular Ballet
Sculpt. For those who would like a more thorough and
personalized workout the studio offers Pilates wall racks,
chair and reformer equipment.
The heat in a hot studio, explains Wong, helps to improve
the body’s ability to stretch and can reduce injury. “But you
have to get used to it,” she says, adding that it took her
more than a couple of session before becoming a devotee.
Founder Isabel Lambert says hot yoga also improves
one’s mental focus, since the heat can distract at first, but
working through it, you adjust. Clients also interested in
detoxing their system tend to try hot yoga, in combination
with other services offered at Tula.
In fact, group cleansing workshops are held periodically
at the location where a naturopathic doctor leads clients
through educational sessions, diet analysis and even a field
trip to learn healthy grocery shopping.
“The studio’s offerings are kind of a broad spectrum, but
really it’s just focused on overall health,” explains Lambert.
A registered massage therapist is on site and spa treatments
include everything from pedicures (for men as well) and
manicures to body scrubs, sports massage, oxygen facials
and scalp treatments.
tulahotyoga.com
21 • SUMMER 2011
[MARKETING]
CONCEPTS ÉCLAIRÉES
Une petite agence de pub montréalaise met au point un processus d’étude de marché qui permet de
Par Yvan Marston
David & Goliath
Testing Successes
PACKAGING KITCHEN GOODS
With the new David & Goliath designed
package, kitchenware maker Matfer
had to order five times more packaging
and renew the order every three months.
Sales went up 50-fold.
NAMING STRUDEL
Testing the name Divino for Casse-Noisette
bakery’s strudels found that French
speakers liked it, associating it with
good pastry. English speakers though,
immediately thought of wine. A new
name, Délire, along with new packaging,
generated an 80% increase in sales.
RAISING STUDENT ENROLLMENT
When the University of Ottawa sought to
rebrand itself, David & Goliath presented
not only several logos but also statistics
on the perception of each of them and
their meaning to the general public, and
won the creation of the logo and the
advertising campaign. From 2002 to
2007, the number of students enrolled in
undergraduate studies at the University
of Ottawa rose by over 30%.
AVENUE ATLANTIC, MONTRÉAL / – Pour Bachir Saouaf, la
recherche marketing peut être une tâche longue et laborieuse quand, avec
son équipe, il sonde la relation entre le consommateur et l’annonceur à la
recherche du chemin le plus direct vers le Saint Graal du marketing, soit
connaître les besoins de son public cible.
« Les études de marché traditionnelles ont toutes leur place. En fait,
une grande partie de notre travail commence par-là », explique Bachir
Saouaf, président de David & Goliath® Communications Marketing,
une agence de douze personnes installée dans le quartier d’Outremont à
Montréal.
Depuis des bureaux, style loft, situés au cinquième étage, Bachir
Saouaf et son épouse Carole Leduc, directrice de création, dirigent une
agence de communication-marketing dont l’équipe complète comprend
des rédacteurs, des designers graphiques, des programmeurs web et une
photographe. Fondée il y a 14 ans, la firme vient tout juste de recevoir
deux prix internationaux pour sa créativité dans le cadre des Summit
International Awards (avec la participation d’agences de 22 pays). Et
pourtant, ce qui préoccupe le plus Bachir Saouaf ces temps-ci, c’est la
recherche marketing.
Comment savoir si votre message est adapté à votre public? Qu’est-ce
qui incite un consommateur à choisir votre produit plutôt que celui du
concurrent? Quelle est la couleur idéale pour votre emballage?
alliedpropertiesreit.com • 22
MONTRÉAL
créer une image marketing précise et efficace.
Tous ces détails sont d’une grande importance, mais ils
sont trop souvent laissés à la discrétion du client ou du
designer, en fonction de leur intuition, de leur préférence
ou des impressions de leurs collègues de travail, raconte
Bachir Saouaf. La méthode développée par David &
Goliath®, le Test Driven Design™ est un processus qui
cherche à répondre à toutes ces questions rapidement
et objectivement dans le but de permettre une prise de
décision éclairée.
À titre d’exemple, lorsque l’Université d’Ottawa voulait
modifier l’image de sa marque pour se positionner comme
étant « l’université canadienne ». Elle cherchait également
à augmenter le nombre de ses étudiants francophones.
Plusieurs questions se posaient sur son logo : y ajoutonsnous une feuille d’érable? Comment le rendre bilingue
sans répéter le nom dans les deux langues?
Parmi les six agences qui se faisaient concurrence pour
obtenir le contrat, David & Goliath® a établi, grâce à ses
recherches, qu’un logo bilingue avec une feuille d’érable
créerait la confusion avec une agence gouvernementale.
L’équipe a alors testé plusieurs approches et présenté une
alternative toute simple : « uOttawa ». Cette proposition
s’est attiré 98 % des votes du comité. Par ailleurs, une
étude de marché formelle indépendante, menée après
le lancement du nouveau logo, a conduit aux mêmes
résultats que ceux obtenus par l’équipe de Bachir Saouaf.
Sans fournir tous les détails, Bachir Saouaf explique
qu’il utilise de petits groupes tests permettant ainsi
d’ajuster les concepts et de prendre des décisions éclairées
basées sur des éléments concrets plutôt que sur une
quelconque intuition.
Par ailleurs, au fur et à mesure que l’équipe perfectionne
sa méthode, elle renforce ses compétences dans l’étude
des perceptions, motivations et intentions de divers publics
cibles.
Bien qu’il souhaite développer davantage cet aspect de
son travail, Bachir Saouaf pense que son agence conservera
une taille raisonnablement modeste.
« On n’a pas besoin de devenir une grosse boîte. Les
grandes choses s’accomplissent par l’excellence du travail »,
conclut-il.
david-goliath.com
A small Montreal advertising firm’s a
neat and nimble research process for
accurate creative.
“Formal market research has its place. In fact, a lot of our
process starts with market research,” says Bachir Saouaf,
president of David & Goliath Marketing Communications, a
12-person shop in Montreal’s Outremount neighbourhood.
From a fifth-floor loft-style space, he and his wife/
creative director Carole Leduc run a nimble creative
services firm, complete with copywriters, web and print
designers, programmers and a photographer. And while
the 14-year-old agency is still fresh from accolades on
print work that netted it two 2010 Summit International
Awards, what concerns Saouaf most these days is
research.
How do you know if your message is right for your
audience? What makes someone reach for your product
over your competitor’s? What colour should your
packaging be?
Details such as these matter, but they are often left
to be decided upon by a client’s intuition, a designer’s
preference or the impressions of colleagues, he explains.
Test Driven DesignTM is David & Goliath’s simple
methodology that seeks to answer these questions quickly
and objectively to make informed marketing decisions.
When the University of Ottawa, for example, sought
to rebrand itself as Canada’s university with an eye to
increasing its francophone enrollment, it had several
questions surrounding its logo design, things like: Do
we include a maple leaf? How do we make it bilingual
without repeating the name in both languages?
As one of six agencies competing for the account,
David & Goliath’s research found that a bilingual logo
with a maple leaf would be confused with a government
agency. They tested several approaches and finally
presented a simple alternative: “uOttawa.” That won
98% of the committee votes. And formal market testing
undertaken once the project was launched yielded the
same results Saouaf’s team had come up with.
Without giving away the details of his process, Saouaf
says he uses small research segments combined with
consistent fine tuning to help clients make their decisions
based on facts rather than their own intuition.
23 • SUMMER 2011
INCOMING...
Victoria Acquisition makes Bastion Square
building Allied’s western-most address
Compiled with sources from: bastionsquare.ca.
BASTION SQUARE, VICTORIA / –
May saw the closing of Allied
Properties REIT’s most western
acquisition, 8-10 Bastion Square in
this historic district of B.C.’s capital.
The MacDonald Block, near Wharf
Street, is a Class I office property
with more than 32,000 square feet
of leasable space, and occupied by
tenants similar in character to those
in other Allied buildings across
Canada.
Besides tourism, technology and
food products, government administration and services contribute
significantly to the city’s economy.
Not surprisingly then, one of the
tenants at 8-10 Bastion Square is the
Auditor General of British Columbia.
Built in 1863, only twenty years after the Hudson’s
Bay Company founded a trading post on the site that
eventually saw two fortified log towers, or bastions,
8-10 Bastion Square likely sprung up as a result of the
Fraser River Gold Rush. In 1858, Victoria became a hub
for supplies as some 25,000 miners flooded into the area.
Many San Francisco businesses started branches here,
and while the northeastern bastion still stood at the
time, the street that ran beside it became Bastion Street,
which led to the heart of town: Bastion Square.
The square was also the location of the police barracks
and jail (near where the Maritime Museum now stands).
During the 1860s, some 11 hangings took place in a
fenced yard behind the jail where some of the bodies
were also buried.
In the late 1890s, this area became a legal and professional centre but the depression, First World War and
Prohibition conspired to weaken the square’s economic
base. Things were further aggravated by Vancouver’s
growing prominence as the west coast’s principal port.
From the late 1920s to the 60s, Bastion Square gradually
took on a shabby appearance.
But a forward-thinking city planner spearheaded its
revitalization, closing streets to traffic and redeveloping
derelict buildings under strict guidelines that sought
adaptive reuse.
Today, Bastion Square is most famous for its Thursday,
Friday and Saturday open-air marketplace where tourists
and residents meet area artisans offering a colourful array
of locally designed and produced arts and crafts.
Bastion Square was the site of the local police barracks and jail in
the 1860s, but today it is best known for its open-air market.
FSC LOGO HERE
www.alliedpropertiesreit.com
alliedpropertiesreit.com • SUMMER 2011
Send your company info, events and story ideas to [email protected]
Editor: Yvan Marston • Design: Gravity Design Inc.