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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1995-08-23, Page 18t' '17177-711, 6-6:440_110 Interior motives: Designing it all from home Virginia Warwick does commercial interior designing from her home. Although she enjoys designing health care facilities, she would like to expand her career to include working with more local businesses. She recently finished a decorating project with with Huron Apothecary Ltd., in Exeter. Warwick designed the general waiting area of the Fairway Ur -When designing the communications centre of the Fairway Urgent Care Clinic, Warwick made use of ambient lighting. The gent Care Clinic in Kitchener which includes a play centre with desk is custom designed and built. a magnetic wall set up to hold hand-held video games. Along the back wall is a train display constructed by a train club. Brenda Burke T -A staff EXETER - "It's challenging to use what's available to you and figure out what the client needs in the end," said Virginia Warwick of her interior design career which she manages from her home on the outskirts of Exeter. During her three-year interior design co-op course at Fanshawe College, Warwick majored in design, which is geared toward inter- ior commercial design, rather than interior residential decorating. In order to become an interior designer, Warwick was required to have seven years of designing education and experience behind her before taking an exam which included a l0 -hour studio project. Passing this exam qualified her to become a member of the As- sociation of Registered Interior Designers of Ontario (ARIDO). She is also NCIDQ certified (National Council for Interior Design Qual- ification). Some of the health care facilities Warwick has designed include the Orleans Urgent Care Clinic near Ottawa, the Fairway Urgent Care Clinic in Kitchener and the Barrie Urgent Care Clinic, which she is currently working on. Projects like these, which range from 5,000 to 7,000 square feet, can take up to a year to complete. Warwick begins a project with a base building drawn up by an ar- chitect. Then space planning, her favorite part, comes next. This in- volves laying out rooms and dividing space with partitions. "That's like a puzzle," said Warwick. "You have these re- quirements that have to fit the outside requirements." She said it's often difficult for clients to visualize space by just looking at a blueprint. "It's the only thing we've got for a long time." she explained. "Of- ten times we don't have possession of the building yet or it's not built. That's why it all has to be done on paper." Warwick also works with the position, style and atmosphere of in- terior lighting as well as a building's sound requirements. Next, the electrical and telephone outlet locations are determined, followed by a finishing plan which includes the building's color scheme. Elevations and sections are also done to determine millwork re- quirements. "In a medical centre there's tonnes of millwork," said Warwick, referring to the numerous cabinets and shelving needed. The entire set of drawings go to an electrical and mechanical en- gineer to add heating and plumbing plans. The plan is completed with decorating details such as flooring and color schemes. Each client is presented with two color scheme op- tions and with Warwick's help, makes a choice. Warwick also helps organize the building's art work and furniture. Although she generally works alone, in order to meet deadlines she sometimes contracts out help to do the blueprints. Remaining within a budget to determine a building's specifications, she works out her price as a ratio between square footage of a building and dollars per hour. Total interior construction of an average urgent care building, including a designer's work as well as the en- gineering, plumbing and additional construction, averages about $400,000. All steps of the design process take time. research. travel and at- tention to detail. An average design project usually takes ap- proximately six weeks to complete and includes about a dozen meetings in order to consult with clients, engineers and man- ufacturing sales representatives. "It takes a lot of planning to get to my stage," said Warwick, ex- plaining health care facilities require a detailed, multi -person ap- proval process before and during interior designing. But there are advantages to working with such facilities. "With the commercial (designing) you're used to working with people that are accustomed to making decisions," she said. Although Warwick has also designed offices for a commercial fur- niture dealership, she finds working with health care facilities more challenging and detailed due to their numerous departments. And, if health care systems adopt one-stop medical attention which allows patients to receive check-ups, prescriptions and drugs in one step, Warwick may be involved with these future changes. Life's Hell And Then You Die. Wrong. Attend An Evening With John Wesley White And Find Out Why. Scptcmhei' 3 • 7:00 p.m. • South Huron TIigIi School Gym • All seats free. • Come as you are.