{"id":205868,"date":"2023-01-24T09:15:39","date_gmt":"2023-01-24T14:15:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/?post_type=id_news&p=205868"},"modified":"2023-01-24T09:15:43","modified_gmt":"2023-01-24T14:15:43","slug":"10-questions-with-heidi-painchaud","status":"publish","type":"id_news","link":"https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/designwire\/10-questions-with-heidi-painchaud\/","title":{"rendered":"10 Questions With\u2026 Heidi Painchaud"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
January 24, 2023<\/p>\n\n\n
Words: <\/span>Rebecca Lo<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Photography: <\/span>courtesy iN STUDIO Creative<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n On a quiet afternoon in January, the second floor of a Midtown Toronto studio is buzzing with activity just a few days into the new year. While some concentrate on their flat screens, others in the pantry catch up on holiday accounts with impromptu discussions about projects. It is clear that iN STUDIO Creative walks the walk, operating by letting inspiration ebb and flow, similar to how the team collaborates on corporate design projects. It is no wonder that some of its clients include the biggest and most progressive household names.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2022, partners Heidi Painchaud, Guy Painchaud, and Anthony Orasi broke out the champagne when the 35-strong Canadian firm ranked 49th on Interior Design<\/em>\u2019s Rising Giants list<\/a>. Not bad for a company established seven years ago with a handful of people and an internet connection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Interior Design<\/em> sits down with iN STUDIO co-founder Heidi Painchaud to dive into the nature of today\u2019s workplace post-pandemic. She shares thoughts on returning home after a decade in the U.S., opening a new studio in her hometown of Calgary, working with her husband Guy, and nurturing the next generation of creatives\u2014including their teenager, Roene\u2014through endeavors as diverse as contributions to a design textbook and an artist-in-residence program in Provence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Heidi Painchaud: My mother is an interior designer\u2014she trained later in life and graduated from Mount Royal University in Calgary four years before I graduated from The University of Manitoba. I got a ringside seat. For me, the most interesting part was building spaces on paper. And I saw that there were so many types of designers\u2014so much potential in the industry.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n I must give credit to UofM for the passion it instilled. I love that I learned about design under the umbrella of design for the built environment. When I graduated, I had an underlying respect for the craft of architecture and that we, as designers, are not in it alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n HP: I first worked in Minneapolis at The Wheeler Group before it joined Perkins&Will. Gary Wheeler was and is still my mentor. Then I moved out to NBBJ<\/a> in Los Angeles. Perkins&Will was very diverse and excellent in executing designs, while NBBJ was a big global firm that provided great groundwork for the design process. I learned to listen first before I drew. I then worked for Wirt Design Group (WDG), a small L.A. firm that concentrated on corporate design. I found that I liked the structure of corporate design, and wanted it to be more adventurous. I saw the ramp to get us there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For big firms to survive, they have to offer a lot of different design disciplines and services. In the States, the relationship between architecture and interior design is a much closer marriage than in Canada. In Toronto, we can sign drawings, for example. I also saw how important project managers were in the States, when that role was still in its infancy in Canada in the late ’90s and early 2000s. Project managers have really evolved here\u2014they are like snow plows that allow designers to do our best work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n HP: Although I loved living in L.A., Guy and I are Canadian and we knew it was time to come home by the mid-2000s. We opened Habitar, our first practice, and a major client wanted us to move our studio across the border. We relocated to Calgary in 2006 and landed in a boom. B+H Architects took notice and acquired our practice. We moved to Toronto in 2008 and started iN STUDIO in 2015.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To operate a creative studio, you have to be brave. We are always reinventing ourselves. While we know how to navigate the details of delivering something completely bespoke every time, the hardest part is staying inspired. I think that comes from knowing a client well enough so that inspiration flows naturally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n10 Questions With\u2026 Heidi Painchaud<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
Heidi Painchaud Talks Workplace Design and More<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Interior Design: What were the main reasons you studied interior design?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
ID: You got your start in the States. What were some of the biggest lessons learned there?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
ID: Why return to Canada and start from scratch?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
ID: Biggest challenges and rewards of working with your spouse?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n