Commercial

Café – Ground

Toronto, ON

The concept for the café grew out of a need for a hospitable office reception space. What followed was a full service café concentrating on premium fair trade coffee and breakfast and lunch menus. The café functions as a reception area for the office beyond and serves customers coming in for food who can stay to read or work. The design is meant to reflect the office sensibility as a place of work and to interface with the dining part of the café. It is a place of work and leisure integrated and existing side by side.

The challenge was to define a space that represents both the office and the café, without competing with each other or confusing patrons and clients. People would be able to relate to the studio beyond, without feeling like they are intruding into the wrong space. The division between the office and café is distinct but dissolves as both spaces open up to each other and people from both areas interact with each other.

Office Tower

Tokyo, Japan

This office tower conceptualized for the city of Tokyo was built for the main headquarters of a company run by two brothers. The design was intended to recall elements of the Art Deco era of skyscraper design and construction. It was designed to represent the brothers’ rise to prosperity capturing some of that sense with the jewelry-like detailing of the entrance and use of gold elements. The large elliptical dome which stood at the head of the building would represent the leadership of the company by two people (that is the two focal points of the ellipse).

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Master Plan; Recreation – Sports Island

Osaka, Japan

An Island built on reclaimed land proposed for Osaka Bay. Accessed by a bridge it was designed on a recreational theme intended to include Indoor and outdoor sports facilities, hotels, a marina, and various convention facilities for office functions. The lots were organized on properties arranged on one of 2 grids with most of the buildings following the regular pattern. 3 major nodal points were organized around elliptical plazas, which acted as significant meeting places for people who could arrange rendezvous. The plazas shared their functions with a baseball stadium, restaurant, and high-rise hotel, as is often the case with these public places. Often in the busy city of Osaka, people gather at specific points of reference in the city before arranging to go out for the evening. The elliptical plazas were designed with this activity in mind and maintained their uniqueness to emphasize the special quality of the meeting places.