We are excited to finally show you what we’ve been working on. On Thursday May 30, we will be throwing a party to introduce two new 3D interactive visualization solutions for you: LIQUID & PEEK.
Come for the drinks, the apps, some good music, and culinary creations by Scott Vivian of The Beast. For a taste of the goodies we will be serving: pickled watermelon salad, pork hock and kimchi, and ricotta dumplings with brinjal pickle. YUM!
We will also be drawing winners for an iPad Mini and a Nexus 10.
This rendering was part of a winning proposal to redevelop Nassau Coliseum in Long Island, NY.
Jay-Z is a part of Forest City Ratner Co., the developers of the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, and the other front-runner in the bid for the Nassau Coliseum project. The other two companies bidding were New York Sports and Entertainment LLC and Blumenfeld Development Group.
Jay-Z was in attendance with Forest City Ratner Co., one of four companies bidding for the project. (image via Newsday.com)
Madison Square Garden Company was selected to partner with The Cordish Companies in a $250-million plan to transform the area into an entertainment district centered around performance space.
The proposal involves renovating and downsizing the 41-year-old arena and adding a 150,000 square foot entertainment complex called Long Island Live. This complex would include a sports-themed “MSG Zone” with restaurants, bars and memorabilia from the Madison Square Garden.
Though the coliseum will no longer be home to the New York Islanders, MSG promises to maintain pro sports in the arena by bringing in New York minor league teams or possibly the New York Liberty.
SCI Architects will be the architects for the Nassau Coliseum project. MSG also hired them for their recent $1-billion renovation.
In February, Norm and his wife Sarah vacationed in Jamaica where they enjoyed the Caribbean sun and good food (we all know how much Norm loves his food…). During an excursion to Kingston, they discovered the TrenchTown Reading Centre.
Founded in 1993, the TrenchTown Reading Centre is a non-profit initiative that aims to provide an accessible and enriched educational experience for the children and adults of the community. In an area of violent instability, the centre is a positive and safe environment for learning and developing life skills.
The TrenchTown Reading Centre aims to break the cycle of illiteracy in the area. The goal is to provide enjoyable learning experiences to the children to stimulate their self-confidence and social skills, with programs that focus on developing literacy, creative learning, skill building and critical thinking.
Roslyn Ellison of Vancouver, Canada, one of the founders of the centre, created the registered non-profit “Friends of the TrenchTown Reading Centre” (FTRC) in Canada to continue to support and develop the initiative.
The TrenchTown Reading Centre has upgraded since it first opened its doors in 1993, but needs continuing support to accommodate the growing community and maintain the establishment. The centre does not receive government funding, and instead survives largely on donations.
Since returning from their visit, Norm and Sarah have been collecting materials and supplies among friends and colleagues to send back to TrenchTown. Norm is also sponsoring sixty children to attend a three week summer camp.
We were commissioned by Teeple Architects and The Boulevard Club to help show off plans for their West Wing Replacement Project – a new two-storey addition to the historic Boulevard Club on Toronto’s western waterfront. According to the architects’ website, the addition replaces the existing west wing, which was originally built as a boat house and is now structurally compromised beyond repair.
The Boulevard Club entry to the new spa. Artist Rendering by Norm Li AG+I.
The renewed facility will have new change rooms; a spa and wellness centre; relaxing and luxurious lounge spaces; badminton courts and a multi-use gymnasium.
To illustrate the multi-use gymnasium, we created two images, using the same view, but showing two different uses. The following images are prime examples of activity and context – two key components to engaging images (refer to Norm’s talk at OCAD).
The Boulevard Club’s main membership is made up of adults. So to demonstrate how they might use the new gymnasium, we placed adults using the space in sporty ways.
The Club also has kids programming called Camp Boulevard. To show that, we used the same view of the gymnasium, but this time populated the space with active kids along with adult supervision of course.
Both images contain activity and context, hopefully giving you the viewer an instantly recognizable and relatable visual image of what it will be like to use the new facility.
As Toronto’s only private multi-sport, recreation, and social club with an expansive waterfront setting on Lake Ontario, the Boulevard Club has a lot to offer its members. The expansion also has plans for a new roof terrace open to the lake to take full advantage of the waterfront view in ways the original building never did. Now if only old man winter would cooperate and leave the city so we can get on with spring already!
Dreaming of warm summer nights by the waterfront, under the stars…sigh.
The Boulevard Club, Toronto. Artist Rendering by Norm Li AG+I. So romantic.
On Thursday March 30, 2013, The Remington Centre officially opened the doors to its shiny new presentation facility in Markham, Ontario. With that, we unveiled our first LIQUID interactive system.
After years of development, design, redesign, testing, and refining, we are so proud to finally introduce our LIQUID system to the public with such a prestigious (and massive) project. In addition to building out every nook and cranny of the 800,000 square foot mall plus people, cars, filling stores, putting up signage etc., our team also created the customized user interface to guide the user through the mall according to the Remington sales team’s objectives.
Before the sales centre was open to the public, we had a chance to take some photos. These images show how our LIQUID interactive environment system was integrated into the marketing and presentation strategy.
Front Desk at The Remington Centre presentation facility in Markham, Ontario.
Panoramic view of the main presentation space.
Screens display visual content by Norm Li AG+I including still renderings, animations, and LIQUID interactive.
The scale model is surrounded by screens featuring the interactive 3D digital model in LIQUID.
Small touch kiosks give 360-degree exterior views of the mall within the context of the region, including proximity to transit services, major roads, and other area amenities.
With just a simple touch, our LIQUID system turns the 3D model into a virtual, real-time environment.
Larger touch screens allow users to go inside the 3D digital mall for more in-depth exploration of the space.
Once inside the system, users can walk around all levels of the mall: filter through retail categories jump between major attraction points of the mall; view floorplans; and watch animated videos.
It was a pleasure working on this project with Sean Lawrence, partner at Kohn Partnership Architects; Mark Wilson, EVP at Envision Sales; and the whole team at The Remington Centre, led by Wayne Chan.
Rudy Bratty, chairperson and CEO of The Remington Group with Markham Mayor Frank Scarpitti smile for photos with attending city councillors at the grand opening event.
Once complete, The Remington Centre will be one of the largest Asian-focused retail centres outside of Asia. Mayor Scarpitti said “Markham is the Chinese capital of the GTA, and this (centre) is at the centre of the Chinese community. This will be truly a one-of-a-kind Asian destination outside Asia.” Only fitting to have a traditional lion dance to mark the occasion!
Read York Region’s full article covering the launch event here.
You can also watch a rough demo video of The Remington Centre’s interactive content.
For Thirty Two Camden, we worked with CORE Architects Principal Charles Gane on the development of the structure of the skin. From our renderings, Charles was able to visualize his design options and come to its final design, a concrete super frame that is offset from the building’s skin. The effect casts shadows on the different units at different times of the day, offering cool shade, and bright highlights.
At Norm Li AG+I we take particular pride in working on what we like to classify at the studio as “Community Projects”. These projects are usually for institutions in the arts, heritage, and culture or not-for-profit sectors. It’s the small part we can play in building celebrated neighbourhoods and enriching the lives of the people who live in the communities.
Here’s a recent example:
Eva’s Phoenix provides safe shelter and training programs for 50 homeless youth, ages 16-24 years, for up to one year. They help youth make the transition from a life on the streets to finding permanent housing and employment. Youth develop the life skills necessary to build careers and live independently in the community.
As part of their Phoenix Rising Campaign, our team was commissioned to create an image of the new Main Street that will provide access to ten townhouses built inside a redeveloped historical building. The new location is slated to open late 2014. Learn more about the campaign here.
Check back later for more renderings of this project…
