One Kids Place

Awards

• Northern Ontario Excellence Award, WoodWORKS! Wood Design Awards
• Award of Excellence, Association of Registered Interior Designers of Ontario (Carlyle Design Associates)
• Project of the Year by Association of Registered Interior Designers of Ontario (Carlyle Design Associates)

One Kids Place (OKP) provides a broad range of services to help children, youth and their families with physical, developmental and communication delays and disabilities.  In addition, the facility houses the Clinic of the North Bay Pediatric Group, a consortium of all pediatricians in the North Bay area.

This was a special project for Mitchell Jensen Architects in which Paul Mitchell was both design Architect and Project Manager.  Paul’s involvement began with consideration of various location options, in response to the functional program prepared by RPG Consultants.  This progressed into the development of Guiding Principles of Design for OKP developed through a group exercise which Paul facilitated.  In consultation, Paul crafted a Participation Plan for the project, which gave structure to the meaningful input of the various stakeholder groups, including functional staff groupings, parents and pediatricians.

Paul produced and tracked the overall Project Budget and Schedule and assisted OKP with land acquisition negotiations, Ministry submissions and approval processes.  Paul takes a very engaged and holistic view of his projects.

The result is a single storey building organized around a primary public circulation system which is intuitive and easily understood.  Access and views to the outdoors are abundant with a central courtyard as the primary feature providing an outdoor therapy area, quiet reflection space, and play area which is sheltered from surrounding roadways.  It acts as an orientation device being the focus of much of the public circulation.

The design used natural materials such as wood and stone to create a warm and comforting environment.  Indoor air quality received considerable attention through material selections and the inclusion of a bio-filtration system as a living green wall.