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AUGUST 2014 / VOLUME 28 / NUMBER 4 PUBLISHER Dan Chapman EDITOR Natalie Bruckner-Menchelli ART DIRECTOR Laurel MacLean CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Angela Altass Robin Brunet Godfrey Budd Peter Caulfi eld Stefan Dubowski Lawrence Herzog Laurie Jones Jessica Kirby Stacey McLachlan Susan Pederson James Raiswell Irwin Rapoport Tiffany Sloan Guy Wilson-Roberts Zuzanna Wodzynska CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER Robert Stefanowicz PRODUCTION MANAGER/PRINT Kirsty Senior PRODUCTION MANAGER/STUDIO Kristina Borys ASSISTANT STUDIO MANAGER Mandy Lau PRODUCTION COORDINATOR Julie Reynolds ADVERTISING PRODUCTION Allison Griffi oen, Chris Sherwood ELECTRONIC PRODUCTION Ina Bowerbank ELECTRONIC IMAGING Mandy Lau, Laura Michaels ACCOUNT MANAGER Alexander Sugden ADVERTISING COORDINATOR Allie Davison AWARD MAGAZINE HEAD OFFICE Phone 604.299.7311 Fax 604.299.9188 CHAIRMAN, CEO Peter Legge, obc, lld. (hon) PRESIDENT Samantha Legge, mba SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT/ CUSTOM PUBLISHING Kathleen Freimond VICE PRESIDENT/FINANCE Farnaz Riahi, ca VICE PRESIDENT/SALES & OPERATIONS David Comuzzi VICE PRESIDENT/MARKETING Holly Pateman VICE PRESIDENT/EDITORIAL & BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT Tom Gierasimczuk VICE PRESIDENT/SPECIALTY SALES Rebecca Legge (on leave) EXECUTIVE CREATIVE DIRECTOR Rick Thibert DIRECTOR OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY Mike Packer DIRECTOR OF PRODUCTION Kim McLane DIRECTOR OF DIGITAL MEDIA Raymond Yip MANAGING DIRECTOR, CUSTOM PUBLISHING Mike Roberts GENERAL SALES MANAGER Raymond Henderson DIGITAL MEDIA Piushi Ariyawansa, Ariane Fleischmann, Debbie Jiang, James Marshall, Candice Ui MARKETING Kathleen Almeida, Casey Crawford, Joanne Da Silva (on leave), Allyson Wickham TECHNICAL SUPPORT ANALYST Brian Fakhraie APPLICATION SUPPORT ANALYST Eileen Gajowski HR MANAGER/SENIOR ACCOUNTANT Joy Ginete-Cockle ACCOUNTING Rita French, Eileen Gajowski, Terri Mason, Sonia Roxburgh, Jocelyn Snelling CIRCULATION MANAGER Tracy McRitchie CIRCULATION Ashley Cleggett, Millie Coskun, Kelly Kalirai, Ruth Pisko EXECUTIVE ASSISTANTS Heather Vince RECEPTION Ellenor McClelland Award magazine is published six times a year by Canada Wide Media Limited. Head offi ce: 4th Floor - 4180 Lougheed Highway, Burnaby, B.C. V5C 6A7. Phone 604.299.7311, Fax 604.299.9188. Send covers of undeliverable copies to address above. Publications Mail Agreement No. 40065475. © 2012. No part of this magazine may be reproduced without written permission of the publisher. Award is distributed to architects, interior designers, landscape architects, consulting engineers, specifi cation writers, development companies and major construction companies throughout Western Canada and Ontario. For subscription information call 604.299.1023 or email: awardsubscriptions@ canadawide.com National Library No. ISSN 1202-5925. Printed in Canada by Transcontinental LGM Graphics. Award magazine welcomes your letters, corporate announcements or company information. The statements, opinions and points of view expressed in articles published in this magazine are those of the authors and publication shall not be deemed to mean that they are necessarily those of the publisher, editor or Canada Wide Media Limited. The acceptance and publication of advertisement of products and services does not indicate endorsement of such products or services. The publishers cannot be held responsible for unsolicited manuscripts and photographs. I have recently returned from a trip to a smaller city in Kazakhstan (population 300,000) in Central Asia, where I went as a volunteer adviser to a fi rm of architects, engineers and builders. These professionals wanted to learn more about the Western ways of approaching projects. They want to be able to compete with large Western and Japanese fi rms and designers in creating a new ultra-modern city in the capital city of Astana, which is booming because of its gas and oil rich location. However, during my short stay, I noticed how little attention was paid to the elderly and handicapped in the design of most of the older Soviet-period buildings as well as many newer structures and public spaces. For example, in many cases, elevators in apartment buildings and in some public structures were so tiny and the doors so narrow that it was diffi cult to imagine that they were wheelchair accessible. To make things worse, the access to the elevator lobby was a few steps above ground with no ramp to the main fl oor. Sidewalks were often in poor state of repair and few had ramps at intersections and crosswalks. This reminded me of a conversation I had with the ex-minister of health of Slovenia a few months earlier on the subject of Age- Friendly Cities, a World Health Organization initiative, which I have since discovered has been adopted by a large number of countries and communities including Canada. The Canadian population is getting older. Many of these principles are already applied and required by codes and municipal plans, but some aspects are ignored. We all know that ground fl oors in public buildings and multi- unit housing developments have to be wheelchair accessible, that automatic sliding or push-button doors are required where there is general public access, that stairs should have different colour nosing for the visually impaired and have proper handrails to prevent falls. However, there is another side to the story. Age friendly also means providing features that will encourage the elderly and the handicapped to remain active. It means providing a choice between taking the easy way (an elevator or escalator) and taking the stairs to maintain and improve the abilities, which they still have and provide a chance to exercise. It may mean staircases in addition to escalators and elevators in malls ensure there are sitting areas to rest along the way. These ideas apply to urban planning, for example in parks and pedestrian paths. Some pathways should avoid being shared with cyclists, skateboarders and rollerbladers to prevent accidents. Some facilities may have to be dedicated to the elderly, ensuring that there are a number of benches along the way. Maybe public accessible washrooms are required. Visually impaired people need attention both in buildings and outdoor spaces. Proper signage and audible signals are a must, as are properly maintained sidewalks in winter to prevent slippery areas and unequal walking surfaces. The website of the Public Health Agency of Canada is one of many online sources for age-friendly communities and cities. The principles proposed go far beyond the physical aspects of the environment. They include providing mental and physical activities and making facilities available for the elderly to protect or improve their physical, social and mental capacities. Is this the architect's role? It certainly is, as we are involved in the design of interior and exterior spaces and generally have an important infl uence on the way cities and communities are shaped and in the way we, the citizens, live. ■ Age-Friendly Communities by Edmond Koch, FRAIC regional director of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada for the Atlantic region PERSPECTIVE Download Award magazine for free on your iPad and enjoy additional photography and video not found in the print version. With enhanced features including tours of the latest projects across Canada, the Award magazine iPad edition is a multi-media must-read for the design and construction industry. Download the free Award magazine iPad app through the iTunes store today. and in the way we, the citizens, live.