Public Health Ontario
Another Toronto medical research lab—spanning four floors occupied by Public Health Ontario in the Medical and Related Sciences (MaRS) Centre—features an abstract image of bacteria, rendered in a dot grid of metal tubes of various sizes and thicknesses and topped off with a multi-coloured acrylic disc. Conceived and developed by Peggy Theodore and Thom Pratt of the aforementioned Diamond Schmitt Architects, the installation runs along the lab’s main feature staircase that joins all four floors.
With this visual style set in place, Entro complemented the architectural installation with wayfinding signs that also featured dot patterns and integrated acrylic. Further, with the goal of honouring the past within the new space, the company designed a timeline about and portrait of Dr. Donald Low, who was the leading scientist in Toronto’s fight against a severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak in 2003 and passed away in 2013.
Entro again worked with Acumen Visual Group to turn its concepts into physical reality. Acumen’s expertise was key in determining the right techniques for layering the right materials to create the facility’s room signs with tactile and braille characters.
Daniels Spectrum
Storytelling can be a key component in the development of holistic sign programs. The story of more than 80 different nationalities represented within Toronto’s Regent Park, for example, became the leading theme in the design of the neighbourhood’s Daniels Spectrum Building, a 5,574-m2 (60,000-sf) Artscape community cultural hub that opened in 2012, offering event, performance and exhibition spaces.
Coloured bands displayed on both the exterior and interior of the building were developed by abstracting and condensing the flags of the 80 different nations, representing people from Asia, Africa, South America and Canada’s First Nations. While these design elements are no longer recognizable as flags, the vibrant colours shine through and resonate with an almost regal quality.
Incorporating these colours into the façade not only signified the building would serve a different function than the condominiums surrounding it, but also became the Daniels Spectrum’s primary visual identity.
The University of Waterloo’s School of Pharmacy is wrapped in a floral theme, representing ingredients in medicines.
Entro—which had previously worked on Artscape’s Wychwood Barns—partnered with WSI Sign Systems in Bolton, Ont., to design and fabricate, respectively, the Daniels Spectrum’s wayfinding signs and branding elements. The facility was immediately successful and went on to win several international awards; it was named ‘Best New Venue in Canada’ in 2013 at the BizBash National Event Style Awards in New York, N.Y. received the Good Design is Good Business Award in 2014 and won a U.K. Civic Trust Award in 2015.
University of Waterloo School of Pharmacy
A different kind of storytelling was used for the University of Waterloo’s School of Pharmacy in Kitchener, Ont. The anchor institution for the university’s health sciences campus takes a natural approach to healing, using ingredients from medicinal flowers, so Gottschalk + Ash International (G+A)—which would later become part of Entro—worked with HPA Architects to develop a floral theme for the building.
First, the company researched flowers from botanical drawings dating back to the 17th century. Next, an artist from London, Ont., repainted them so they would have a more artistic esthetic than a digital reproduction. Finally, the images were increased in scale and wrapped around the entire surface of the building’s curtain wall.
When the building opened in 2008, it was one of the first in downtown Kitchener’s ‘innovation district.’ Today, the district has been completely transformed, with the School of Pharmacy embedded among other buildings that have also helped create buzz for the area.
