BNKC Newsletter – June 2020

 

Project Introduction
Northmount School

Northmount School was established in 1990 by a group of parents who wanted to prioritize student character development and academic excellence. Their idea worked, and the school recently received a top ranking from the Fraser Institute.



The school is currently housed in a converted warehouse with various additions that is under-sized for its growing community. They came to BNKC to create a space that’s not only larger, but designed to match their stellar reputation.



We responded with a master plan and redesign that envisions a high-quality learning spaces in an open and inviting environment. The new building will support the educational goals of the school and accommodates future growth while still maintaining their highly sought after small family school feel.



The project is currently in schematic design. Follow this project and learn about more of our private institutional work at Royal St. George’s College, The Bishop Strachan School, and St. Andrew’s College at bnkc.ca.

Collaborations
Helping George Brown College Students Gain Real-World Experience

BNKC is undertaking an exciting collaboration with George Brown College to help students in the Angelo Delzotto School of Construction Management gain some real-world experience.

Students will be converting CAD drawings from our Westmount Shopping Centre project into a BIM model.

 

BNKC is converting former Sears and Target locations at Westmount Shopping Centre into new leasable spaces to appeal to changing demographics.

We’re big believers in BIM and deliver almost all our projects in REVIT. The prospect of converting a CAD project into a more usable BIM model is often a first step in setting up a project, so its also a natural starting point to get the students involved.

 

Example of a BNKC BIM project. BIM is a process that uses an intelligent 3D model to manage documents from an integrated team to coordinate a project through its life-cycle.

Under normal circumstances, these students would be fulfilling a co-op term, learning the ropes while immersed in a studio environment. Obviously, COVID-19 has made co-op placements next to impossible, so we’re happy to help the students learn. It’s a collaboration that benefits all involved.

Read more here.

News
Will Design Change in Response to the Pandemic?

As we slowly begin the process of opening up our economy, many journalists are eager to tell the story of how COVID-19 has (or will) shape the future of design. While it’s still too early to measure the effects of the pandemic on built projects, we can anticipate certain changes based on discussions for projects still in the design phase. BNKC was asked to weigh-in on the subject in two recent interviews.



Daily Commercial News – Pondering Post-COVID Design by Don Wall
Wall interviewed our team to learn why few of our projects have been adversely affected by the pandemic. Jonathan King specifically pointed out that work at 5509 Dundas and 2720 Danforth in Toronto, and East City Condos in Peterborough are all moving along on schedule and hypothesizes why the residential sector is more immune to the changes affecting many projects across the industry.Read the full article here.



Novae Res Urbis – Post-Pandemic Design by Rob Jowett
Jowett interviewed experts across the AEC industry to assess how COVID might transform design. Jonathan King shared that some of our clients have already been requesting design changes to aspects of their planned projects because of the impact of the pandemic, “clients have already been requesting design changes to aspects of their planned projects, such as changes to mechanical systems like air circulation”.Read the full article here.

Planet
World Environment Day



World Environment Day (WED) is June 5, 2020 and marks the anniversary of the first United Nations conference to focus on the environment. That was in 1972. Now, 50+ years later, WED continues to encourage us to examine our impact on our planet.



This year’s WED theme is biodiversity — a call to action to combat the accelerating species loss and degradation of the natural world.

For more info visit www.worldenvironmentday.global and share why you believe action for nature is so critical @UNEP. Be sure to use the #ForNature and #WorldEnvironmentDay hashtags.