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>> Susan Ruptash: Last year we had a fantastic opportunity in that we were moving our studio
to a brand new location. We decided right from the start that this was an ideal opportunity
for us to showcase our belief in Universal Design. We also felt it was a fantastic opportunity
to showcase for our co-workers, our clients and our visitors, to have a place where we
could explain to them the theories of Universal Design, the functional aspects, and show them
how it could be integrated into the overall design of the space to make the space better
for everybody. We also wanted to make it a living lab in a sense. We have a great accessibility team here,
and we wanted to have an opportunity to have places that we could test out new
theories and new ideas that we were considering for future designs. We're continuing to use
our studio as a catalyst for spreading the word about Inclusive Design through methods
such as lunch-and-learn sessions, teaching, educating our co-workers and giving tours
to other interested parties. We've also throughout the space installed a number of informational
graphic pieces that are both something that enliven the space and give us pleasure to
look at, but also give us an opportunity to talk about the specifics of Universal Design.
Quadrangle has come from a long history of collaborating with our community
and with our colleagues.
>> Amy Pothier: The accessible meeting spaces at Quadrangle were designed so that every
meeting space could be fully flexible and functional for every person's needs and abilities.
Equality within the office is very important within Quadrangle. We have every person, including
the founding principals, sitting at an open workstation with full flexible views to the
outdoor environment. To indentify locations where you have full glazing within the office
space, we have incorporated a horizontal strip with Quadrangle building elevations to identify
to a person with low vision that there is a barrier in front of them. Not only does
this provide fully accessible office space, but it does give us an opportunity to brand
our space in a creative method. The repurposing of old desks allowed us to create custom millwork
at the end of every workstation cluster. Not only does this give us more opportunity for
personalization within the office, it is also designed to be fully cane-detectable from
the bottom so that no person will hit their head. The use of natural light and views to
the outdoors impacts the health and well-being of our colleagues as well as visitors to the
office space. Base building washrooms were updated to increase the flexibility and accessibility
within them. While we were limited due to structure, we incorporated a number of upgraded
accessibility features such as automatic controls and accessible water closets and lavatories.
In addition to the gender-specific washrooms, we've personally installed a universal toilet
room to increase the level of accessibility within our facilities. The modelling station
and materials library were designed to allow for various activities to occur depending
on a person's needs and requirements. We have spaces for people to sit as well as stand
to work which allows for flexibility and health and well-being.
>> Jesse Klimitz:At our new offices at Quadrangle, we've created millwork for our service counter
at the front reception area that is fully accessible. We also have very flexible kitchen
millwork in our office. In The Annex area we've designed the kitchen to be multi-tiered
surface counters. We've incorporated elongated power operators throughout the office at all
key doorways. They're able to access them based on the use of their hands but as well
the use of their feet or the use of their mobility device such as a walker or a power
chair or scooter. Our front entry and waiting area in the office is quite large, open and
bright, and it allows for anybody to wait with dignity and equality for a meeting.
The space has been designed throughout the office with wide corridors and access routes and
this promotes the ability for people to walk or travel down these routes with attendants.
The Universal Toilet Room is proving to be very beneficial as it can assist those that may
need an attendant with them at any given time, as well as family members who may have young
children who would like to use the family washroom at any given point. We've incorporated
wayfinding features throughout the design of our office. We've used the use of colour,
and especially colour and texture in our floor patterns throughout the office to define circulation routes.
So we've created a simple floor plan that has a circuitous route throughout the
office that everybody knows is simple and intuitive to follow the path of travel from
the entrance to the exit. We've used tactile features on the signage, so raised pictograms.
We've used Braille as well as tactile lettering. As well, we've created, we've incorporated colour contrast
and tonal contrast into the signage and how it contrasts to the surrounding wall.
>> Susan: Our new studio has given us a great opportunity to showcase what's really important
to us at Quadrangle, our brand, and our commitment to Universal Design principles. It's given
us an opportunity to showcase Universal Design in the media and to the world at large and this
fits well into our role as advocates of Universal Design to try and make it better throughout
the world. Finally, it fits well with Quadrangle's commitment to sustainable design, because
we believe we have future-proofed our studio by including Inclusive Design features well
beyond the existing codes and standards so that we know that our studio will stand the
test of time for many years to come.