Professional Development Edition

In this edition, we thought we should feature a few of our recent professional development and community outreach activities. On April 14-18, George and Isaac attended the annual “Environments for Aging” Conference, in Charlotte, NC. This is the premiere seniors’ living conference in North America, and we attend it every year to keep up with the latest developments, products, research, and design in the field. The guys also took in the NASCAR Hall of Fame as a fun conference activity! On May 8-9, Carlos went to Vancouver to attend ”Optimizing Healing Environments in Healthcare Builds”, hosted by the Canadian Centre for Healthcare Facilities (CCHF). Indigenous engagement, designing for new models of care, sustainable therapeutic design, and “WELL” certification and building standards were key conference topics.

Design Weekend in Kimberley

Members of our design team—architects, intern architects, and architectural designers—took part in a weekend retreat at the company cabin in Kimberley, BC on May 5-7. George, Isaac, Carlos, Cassia, Rebecca, Benjamin, Noemie, and Jherlyn met at the cabin to stretch their design muscles with activities and challenges chosen to get their creative juices flowing. It was a very hands-on approach to professional development, with some priceless found-object sculptures, sketches, and wildly impractical designs created. It was also a great way to get to know our latest team member, Cassia.

George and Angela—Grade 1 Visit

George and Angela went to visit two Grade 1 classes at Glendale Sciences and Technology School on April 27. As part of the science curriculum, they did a little workshop with the kids about buildings and strengths of materials. The kids did a hands-on activity where they could see how a circle is the strongest structural shape and how much weight simple pieces of paper can support. The kids were amazing; it’s cool to see how quickly 6-year-olds grasp complex concepts! Such a fun day!