Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/962985
A PR IL 2018 | 7 PHOTOGRAPHY BY LINDSAY REID/COURTESY PRAIRIE ARCHITECTS INC. Prairie Architects Inc. certification: an adaptive re-use of, and addition to, a Grade III heritage desig- nated structure into a childcare facility at Great-West Life and Prairie Architects Inc.'s own office in the historic 1916 Stanley Brock Building. Sustainability is evident in more ways than one at its LEED CI Platinum target- ted offices. Enter the space and you are greeted with custom-designed vertical bike storage in the lobby: "Over 63 percent of our staff either bike, walk, or use public transit to get to work," says Oster. Natural daylight fills the space that has exceptional Exchange District views and has been designed with an efficient mechanical system, water-efficient fixtures and healthy indoor-air quality. Here the 21-member team is dispersed throughout the open studio, huddled around drawings, researching, sketching and modelling in one of the office's many gathering spaces – with drawings laid out on a number of locally fabricated furniture pieces made from salvaged city of Winnipeg elm trees, including a 16-foot-long elm bar in the front studio along the full height windows featuring the impressive view down Rorie Street. "The office is a flexible environment following a collaborative design studio model that engenders teamwork, quality control, and demands bold solutions to sustainable buildings," says Oster. "Shared knowledge is fostered through mentoring, peer-to-peer education, and professional development. Prairie's dedicated, responsive and passionate team strives each day to achieve quality through research and applying lessons learned; creativity and innovation; techni- cal expertise and attention to detail; and design excellence." This collaborative approach undoubtedly stems from its owner/operators, prin- cipal architects Damien Fenez, Melissa McAlister, Lindsay Oster and Jamie Kozak, who are friends, former classmates and fellow alumni of the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Manitoba. "We graduated in 2006/2007 and five short years later, became owners of Prairie Architects Inc., all under the age of forty. The four of us represent the diversity of the profession and the community within which we work, with gender equity and Franco-Manitoban roots," says Fenez. The Building Blocks on Balmoral at Great-West Life YMCA-YWCA of Winnipeg, MB. Amber Trails Community School, Winnipeg, MB. Prairie Architects Inc.'s office kitchen, Winnipeg, MB. Prairie Architects Inc.'s office entrance, Winnipeg, MB.