On Wednesday, October 13th, IDC celebrated its virtual Awards Celebration during IDC’s 2021 Design Symposium. The event was hosted by IDC President, Deborah Rutherford, IDC Board member, Ian Rolston, and IDC CEO, Trevor Kruse, in Teknion’s showroom from downtown Toronto, Ont.
Due to the impact of the ongoing pandemic, this year’s awards presentation was held virtually again, kicking off the 2021 Design Symposium focused on resilience and empathy. The event celebrated winners of the 2021 Value of Design Awards (VODA), recognized participants of the PROpel Emerging Leaders program, winner of the Legacy Award for Distinguished Service, and for the first time, winners of the Innovation in Design Thinking Student Competition.
A special thank you to our sponsors for making this event possible: Midgley Tecnica, Cosentino, Dacor, Fisher & Paykel, Global Furniture Group, Interface, Keilhauer, Benjamin Moore, and Lutron.
Congratulations to all the winners and participants of this year’s awards and programs.
Legacy Award for Distinguished Service
This year IDC presented Aandra Currie Shearer, President of the Council for Interior Design Qualification (CIDQ) and Principal of Aandra Currie Shearer Design with the third IDC Legacy Award for Distinguished Service. The recipient of this award exemplifies outstanding service and dedication to IDC and more broadly to the interior design community in Canada. The award honours the individuals, companies or institutions that are recognized as being trailblazers to the design community nationally.
IDC Fellows
Retired Principal of SSDG Interiors Inc., Susan Steeves was inducted into the IDC College of Fellows during the Awards Celebration this year. Susan has been an active member of the Interior Designers Institute of British Columbia (IDIBC) for over 25 years and was a long-time volunteer of the association. For the past eight years, she was Co-Chair of the IDIBC Regulatory Process Committee focusing on legal recognition. In addition to her work with IDIBC, Susan spent most of her career with a focus on workplace design and won numerous awards in the field including IDIBC awards of Excellence, Merit, and People’s Choice. On top of design, Susan also co-authored the book, ‘Co-Create,’ published and distributed by Teknion.
Value of Design Awards (VODA)
This year, seven Canadian design firms were honoured at IDC’s virtual Value of Design Awards (VODA) celebration. These awards, which launched in 2018, shine a spotlight on Canadian interior designers by providing a forum to showcase the benefits of design thinking: an empathetic, inventive, and iterative process focused on the human experience within interior spaces.
The 2021 Value of Design Awards were presented to the following winners who continue to push the boundaries of interior design.
Award of Excellence
Innovation in Hospitality Design: ‘McMichael Café’ (Kleinburg, Ont.) by Dyonne Fashina of Denizens of Design Inc. Photography: Scott Norsworthy Photography
Innovation in Workplace Design: ‘Spin Master’ (Toronto, Ont.) by Annie Bergeron of Gensler. Photography: Ben Rahn
Innovation in Institutional/Educational/Civic Design: ‘Laurentian University Student Centre’ (Sudbury, Ont.) by Valerie Gow of Gow Hastings Architects. Photography: Tom Arban Photography
Award of Merit
Innovation in Institutional/Educational/Civic Design: ‘CapU Lonsdale’ (North Vancouver, B.C.) by Michele Sigurdson of DIALOG. Photography: Barry Underhill
Innovation in Hospitality Design: ‘Kevin & Kevin Juice’ (Vancouver, B.C.) by Courtney Cline of Mallen Gowing Berzins Architecture (MGBA). Photography: Amanda Oster
Innovation in Workplace Design: ‘Garantie Construction Résidentielle (Residential Construction Warranty)’ (Montreal, Que.) by Véronique Chayer of Folio Design Inc. Photography: Yanick Lespérance photographe
Innovation in Workplace Design: ‘Rogers & FIDO Headquarters: “La Maison Rogers”’ (Montreal, Que.) by Carmen Huynh of HOK. Photography: Stephane Brugger
Innovation in Institutional/Educational/Civic Design: ‘Aurora Armoury Food & Wine Institute’ (Aurora, Ont.) by Valerie Gow of Gow Hastings Architects. Photography: Tom Arban Photography / Rémi Carreiro Photography
Innovation in Institutional/Educational/Civic Design: ‘Niagara College Welland Student Commons’ (Welland, Ont.) by Valerie Gow of Gow Hastings Architects. Photography: Scott Norsworthy Photography
For more information on IDC awards and this year’s recipients, please contact communications@idcanada.org.
