Five years ago, Manvir Deol had a problem - he was building his own home and couldn't visualize how the floorplan would actually look and feel in reality.
So, the Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) Marketing graduate created a solution, Plan Your Space, a showroom where people can walk through their designs before construction begins.
The goal of Plan Your Space is to help clients and developers bring clarity to their projects.
Now, Deol's journey has come full circle. KPU is using Plan Your Space to design its new child care centre and student housing project.
“They truly believe in our product. They’re supporting me not just because I’m a KPU student, but they believe in our service that we’ve created over the last five years,” says Deol. “So, for me to be a KPU graduate and see their support now actually means the world to me.”
The centre will offer multiple rooms, which KPU will have the opportunity to plan the layout with the help of Plan Your Space.
KPU's Campus and Community Planning team, along with Deans and designers experienced a life-size version of their floor plan—moving furniture, creating walls, and spending time in the space to get a true feel for how the room would function.
“The entire team can come in, walk through the space and they can make changes as in, that bathroom feels a little too tight or can I move this wall over six inches and if I do move this wall over is it going to change anything else,” says Deol.
KPU values working with alumni—something that Lucas Ozols-Mongeau, Manager of Planning and Sustainability, emphasizes.
“It’s always such a meaningful relationship to keep in contact with alumni, to find ways to work together, to create partnerships,” says Ozols-Mongeau. “We can mutually support each other and find ways to strengthen those connections.”
This is a sentiment echoed by Weronika Michalska, Manager of KPU’s Major Capital and Strategic Projects who has been working with Deol on a number of projects.
“The coordination felt effortless, and we saved a great deal of time thanks to the team’s quick responses and ease with adjustments. It stands out as one of the smoothest and most efficient collaborations I have experienced in quite some time,” says Michalska.
KPU will continue collaborating with Deol at Plan Your Space to finalize the design for the two-storey building on the Surrey campus.
