Wo-Built Inc. Is on the Move!

Collage: Wo-Built Inc. Is on the Move!
Photos: Olga Goubar
2010 @ wobuilt.com

As our company is expanding, so will our offices. On May 15th we will be moving into our new office space located at 1287 St. Clair Ave W., in the heart of Corso Italia. Over the next few weeks we will be in a flurry of activity with the designing, painting and the setting up of our new office space. (What Wo-built does best!)

Last week members of the Wo-built team received a tour of our new office and the surrounding neighborhood. We also took the opportunity to visit a few of the neighboring businesses for lunch and coffee and to speak with some of the residents in the community, please see the pictures above. We were delighted with all the diversity that we found in our new neighborhood.

Our entire staff is quite excited and looking forward to settling into our new digs and exploring our new community more thoroughly!

Stay tuned for further updates on our adventures in our new hood!

Lonya is the staff writer for Wo-Built Inc.

Where Does One Get Good Ideas from for Innovative Design?

Collage: Innovative Design Ideas Inspired by Nature
2010 @ wobuilt.com

Nature is a great inspiration for innovative design – it even has a name: biomimicry. We are not suggesting that all innovative design ideas come from this concept, but looking at nature can be a start. Many plants, animals and their housing have evolved to maximize their suitability for their environment and their function. By transposing some of the principles to our designs we can again push the envelope.

OK, looking at the field of grass and dandelions might not inspire immediate great structural design ideas, but what about the colour choices? And by applying technology – in this case pixelization – another world of imagery is created. All we are suggesting is that we open our eyes to our environment and recognize possibilities.

Another way of looking at innovative design is to use established architectural design ideas in a new fashion. A lot of the "new" green design ideas principles, such as fresh air ventilation, heat sinks and water features for cooling have been around for centuries. The use of technologies such as air-conditioning and fossil fuel heating enabled at least for a short period of time a convenient and efficient alternative. Now we are looking at combining both principles to save our environment. This makes for interesting buildings.

The limiting factor for innovative design is often imagination and the will to create something interesting and unique. Designers and clients both have to be willing to step out of their comfort zone and be courageous.

Martina Ernst
CEO
Wo-Built Inc.

link:
wikipedia.org: Biomimicry
"Biomimicry or biomimetics is the examination of nature, its models, systems, processes, and elements to emulate or take inspiration from in order to solve human problems. The term biomimicry and biomimetics come from the Greek words bios, meaning life, and mimesis, meaning to imitate. Other terms often used are bionics, bio-inspiration, and biognosis."
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Wobinna Is Born

Photo-collage: Wobinna is born
2010 © wobuilt.com
Artist: Dawn Palfreyman

Wobinna, our animated spokesperson, our anime, is finally here. We first talked about having an animated tradeswoman about two years ago when it became apparent that we needed to connect with younger women to encourage them to enter the building trades. We want to create story lines that through humour and information will persuade young women to consider the trades as a career or at least will provide food for thought and discussions.

Please stay tuned for the first story.

Martina Ernst
CEO
Wo-Built Inc.

links:
Wobinna Is Born
http://tinyurl.com/wobinna
Wobinna Built a Fabulous Doll House
http://tinyurl.com/wobinna1
Wobinna and Friends Built a Fabulous Lemonade Stand
http://tinyurl.com/wobinna2
Wobinna and Friends: The Joys of Shop Class!
http://tinyurl.com/wobinna3

What do you want to get out of your home renovation?

Wo-Built's residential renovations' web-page: additions, extensions, kitchens

Due to the recent mortgage rule changes and the upcoming HST we are seeing a large upsurge in properties for sale and consequently sold on the market in the GTA. This seems to be a good time to talk about motivations to renovate on a larger scale. We are not talking about renovations such as painting or refinishing the floors to personalize the space or mandatory ones such as electrical rewiring due to existing knob and tube wiring – we are talking about the larger renovations that will increase your property value.

The timing and motivation of these renovations really depends on the length of time you want to stay in the house.

Let’s say you want to live in the house for about 5 years, i.e. relatively short term. In this case it would be best to add bathrooms and powder rooms, do kitchen makeovers or add extra bedrooms and open concepts, before you move in. As even the best renovation processes are disruptive, can be lengthy and somewhat stressful, it is best to tackle them before you get too comfortable. By the time you want to sell the house again your home has increased in value, you had the benefit of a great and comfortable space to live in for the better part of 5 years and therefore your return on investment should be very favorable.

The best time to get a designer in to prepare for the renovation is even before you close on the sale. Hence you could have your building permit drawings ready to submit just after the property is yours.

New windows, external cladding, even basement renovations could be done after you moved in as they are often less disruptive. These renovations still give good value, but less than the major renovations listed above.

On the opposite scale in case you want to live in the house for a very long time, then it will be best to live in the house for a year or so to see and plan your renovation with great care. In this case you are designing and renovating exclusively for yourself and the increase in property value is nice, but secondary. Yes, your renovation will be disruptive just after you got comfortable in your new home, but taking the time to plan the renovation you want will give you a lot more satisfaction in the long run.

Martina Ernst
CEO
Wo-Built Inc.

links:
Wo-Built: Turning Your Dream Home Into a Reality (Again !!!!)Wo-Built: Renovations and RecessionWo-Built: Getting Your Home Ready for Resale

Can Renovation Give You Good ROI? Ask Kijiji

Screenshot: Wo-Built's Page on Kijiji: Free Local Classifieds

toronto.kijiji.ca: Can a renovation give you good returns for your investment?

Absolutely!

Your commercial space is part of your company's image and a coherent branding will help persuade your customers to hire you or buy from you. We, Wo-Built Inc, are a Design & Build general contractor with a heavy emphasis on design. We look at how any renovation or refurbishment would give you good returns for your investment.

If you would like to have an initial no cost discussion with our designers about the potential of your space, please contact us now at 416-402-2679.

Visits: 9

Check out all our Kijiji (pronounced like key-gee-gee) Ads!!!

Attention Women Home Owners
We, Wo-Built Inc, are a women led design and build construction company in the GTA with the social mission to help women succeed in the building trades. We use our projects to give women who want to work in the trades the opportunity to start their career and give them their first construction job. They learn from our subtrades and get hands-on experience.
We specialize in Home Renovations and Additions and would like to talk to you if you are thinking of embarking on a renovation or addition to your home. Our first design consultation is free.
Visits: 26

Do you want to strengthen your branding with your work space?
Your office, commercial space or health center is part of your branding and its look will reinforce the impression your customers have of you.
We, Wo-Built Inc, a Design & Build general contractor in the GTA area, can help you achieve implementing the look necessary for your commercial space, office or health center to stand out and attract customers. If you would like to have an initial free design consultation please contact us.
Visits: 18

We are looking for suggestions for suitable buildings
We, Wo-built Inc, are a Design & Build General contractor in the GTA and we are interested in exploring the possibilities of reusing buildings and converting them into affordable housing. We would like to find suitable buildings, empty warehouses, empty commercial buildings etc, to explore these options further. If you know of any buildings which might be suitable, please send us an e-mail with any information, such as address, history and ownership, you may know about the buildings.
Visits: 58

The Study Shows the Green Roof Maintenance Is Close to Zero

Collage: Wobuilt Goes Green
2010 @ wobuilt.com

The study shows maintenance of green roofs is close to zero.

First: We love our sample of green roof.......but we have been trying to kill it for the last year. All in the name of science.

One of the suppliers of green roofs gave us a sample of the vegetation, a variety of Sedum (leaf succulent), about 8” by 12” and we left it by the outside door in an alley way. This tested its resiliency to its limits. It was flooded, endured drought, froze, was covered in snow, lost its container, half its earth, was kicked upside down and was thoroughly neglected. It is still alive, a bit bedraggled, but alive.

This test is not conclusive, but we can say with authority that the vegetation used for green roofs is very low maintenance (ours was a maintenance-free approach), extremely resilient and will perform well in the Canadian climate.

We are excited to use it on real roofs to reduce energy usage in buildings.

Martina Ernst
CEO
Wo-Built Inc.

links:
http://tinyurl.com/wobuilt8
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Wo-Built/#maintenance of #green #roofs