the compass

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The Compass is a multicultural community oriented development dedicated to new Canadians. The design will act as a buffer in preparing newly arrived immigrants to adapt to their new lives by creating living and job opportunities. Being part of this community offers an enhanced lifestyle.

The building is located in the heart of the business district of Ottawa on the corner of Kent and Albert Street, a central hub for professionals and businessmen, where its busy in traffic most of the time especially during weekdays and lunch hours, giving the immigrants opportunities to interact with the locals. Another advantage for the location is that it’s a major transit-way corridor as well as a future stop for the Ottawa light rail.

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The project started with a conceptual model that embodies the state of the mind and experience the new immigrant is going through. This is conveyed by a steel wire spiraling outside a box, were each facet varies in its translucency and texture. The materiality of the wire, strong yet bendable, translates to the adaptability of the immigrant to his/her new life.

 
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