Cohos Evamy integratedesignTM received top honors for the design of Edmonton’s PCL Centennial Learning Centre at the Antron Carpet Fiber Design Awards held April 24th at the St. Regis Hotel in San Francisco, California. The Design Awards, now in their 23rd year, recognize excellence in interior design specifically those who are setting new standards of creativity through the innovative application of carpet.
Cohos Evamy’s design for the PCL Centennial Learning Centre took top honors in its Public Spaces category in addition to being recognized as the grand prize recipient for the evening; a significant honor for the Canadian design firm. The Cohos Evamy team was present to accept both awards in the company of nominees from a number of well recognized American design firms, clients, colleagues and representatives from the industry.
“The carpet was a critical design element as it was one of the few applied finishes. It needed to align with the strength of the architectural forms and finishes that are intertwined with the interior of the building. The scale and proportion of the carpet recesses were designed as grounding horizontal elements in keeping with the architectural forms.” says Michelle Sigurdson, B.I.D., Interior Designer and Associate
The PCL Centennial Learning Centre, built in celebration of PCL’s 100th Anniversary, houses state-of-the-art training rooms, boardrooms rooms, offices, and an Assembly Hall overlooking landscaped gardens. The desire of the client to reflect its core business of construction was key to the project and this vision was translated into a design approach that celebrates construction excellence; expressing and incorporating the structural, mechanical and electrical engineering systems into the architecture and interior design.
The carpet has a strong design vocabulary of texture, pattern and coloration to complement the forms and volumes of the interior and the material palette. This was especially relevant for the Assembly Hall which, because of its two-storey volume, was viewed from the main floor and the lower floor from very different perspectives. The orientation of the carpet was determined on site during construction for the maximum effect of the sculptural pattern from key viewpoints. Carpeted areas are set into recesses in the ground, polished, concrete floors designated specifically for public and gathering spaces in the building. The carpet is a key component for providing a humanistic and acoustical quality to the selected spaces.
Established in 1960, Cohos Evamy integratedesignTM has a track record of integrated design excellence through more than 48 years of practice. Working from studios in Edmonton, Calgary and Toronto, Cohos Evamy credits its strength to its 300 people who deliver excellence and an integrated approach to the provision of architectural, interior design, structural, mechanical and electrical engineering services.