Award

FEBRUA RY 2016 | 9 PHOTOGRAPHY BY EVAN DION & DAVID WHITTAKER / COURTESY MARTENSGROUP MartensGroup Celebratinga Milestone Today MartensGroup consists of 25 highly talented individuals. "Ask any designer at MartensGroup why are you a designer? and they will say, 'I am a designer because I love learning about people's needs and creating something physical that will help meet their vision,'" explains Martens. Over the past 10 years the leadership team has guided the growth and direc- tion of the company. Today, Sharon Martens acts as principal and owner, leading the firm's business development activities with the support of Doug Niwa and Kim Green, associates-in-charge of leading the studio and setting the firm's high stan- dard for quality service and calibre of design solutions. Niwa joined MartensGroup in 1995 after receiving a Bachelor of Interior Design from the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Manitoba in 1988. After graduat- ing he moved to Calgary and worked for two national interior design firms before join- ing MartensGroup. Today Niwa guides and develops the design quality, winning the firm many notable design awards. His ability to listen and connect with clients enables him to provide strong and innovative design solutions to complex design problems. Green has 30 years of experience in the role of interior designer and project leader for projects ranging up to one million square feet. Green is an award-win- ning designer who is recognized for her strong project organizational skills and col- laborative work style. She brings a creative approach to the design solutions, while maintaining team communication; monitoring the project development as it relates to the client's requirements, goals and objectives. Martens' commitment to the design profession is long-serving. She is a member of a number of associations including IDC, IDA, IIDA, IFMA, CoreNet and BOMA, and has travelled the world to discover new ways to evolve interior solutions, integrating advances in organizational development, sustainability, wellness and new technologies. "This is the underlying philosophy to our work – to make daily improvements to do our best work in order to keep ahead of our competition and maintain our design leadership position," explains Martens. In fact, MartensGroup's success is a byprod- uct of developing its team and talent, and expending much of the team's energy on being creative, innovative and constantly investing in new technology. With a workplace strategy that involves real estate analysis, benchmarking, functional needs analysis and master planning, feasibility planning, development of workplace strategies, space standards and planning guidelines, as well as workplace furniture standards, it is fair to say that this business goes beyond the conventional. You just need to look at MartensGroup's portfolio of projects, many of which have won numerous national and local awards. Projects which range from corporate, financial and legal as well as healthcare, hospitality and multi-family, private resi- dences, and government and not-for-profit buildings. MartensGroup has the depth and ability to adapt to changing economic condi- tions and different sectors of business. "No project is too large or too small. We rise to the challenge of limited budgets and tight timeframes. MartensGroup looks to secure projects that are challenging, improve and develop skills, and open paths to the next challenging opportunity," says Martens. Take Burnet, Duckworth & Palmer LLP's new office premises in Calgary for exam- ple. The company's relocation to Eighth Avenue Place East provided the firm with ARC Resources Ltd.

• Cover