Then-And-Now: The gold standard
When the Winnipeg, Man., manufacturing facility of the Royal Canadian Mint expanded into a full-time, state-of-the-art research and development centre to improve the its advanced plating technologies, the training facility left something to be desired.
The 4,000 square foot training facility in the Hieu C. Truong Centre of Excellence allows the operations to deliver consulting, training and other services to customers and partner mints.
“The original space had been allocated a training room that did not meet the actual physical needs required by the client,” says Susan Rea, principal at Susanrea Interior Design of Winnipeg. Because the shell of the space had already been constructed by the time her firm was retained on the project, she had to find a solution to this critical problem.
It was apparent to Rea that the conference room space was too small to fit all the required equipment and that other areas of the space had to be re-configured. The solution was to cantilever a portion of the conference room over the lobby, and push the AV storage into the corridor. Instead of the kitchen being a separate room, it was incorporated into the corridor with the ability to be closed off when needed by a sliding door.
“This solution allowed the kitchen to serve two functions,” Rea says, “entertainment space for large gatherings, or lunch room for staff. This solution also saved enough space to be able to expand the conference room.
“The space also had to reflect the Royal Canadian Mint branding elements of elegance, prestige and innovation. The wall that projected into the lobby was curved to create a dynamic form in the lobby.” Accents of gold were used to convey prestige, and cool metallic finishes and the repetition of circular forms throughout the space to convey innovation and elegance, she explains.
All of her design inspiration came from the coins that the Royal Canadian Mint (RCM) produces, according to Rea. “The colours were the colours of the metals used in the coins. Circular forms were repeated throughout, in both obvious and subtle details. Every finish in the space conveys either a feeling of prestige, such as the granite floors, or innovation, such as the sleek white and metal finishes.”
Material choices also included linear plank carpet tile, acrylic wall surfaces and exotic textured wood millwork.
The project took Susan Rea six months to complete, from initial meeting to ribbon cutting ceremony, and has met with an extremely positive response from a client that wanted to put its best foot forward.
“It is a facility that the RCM uses as a conference centre for clients from all over the world.”