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Every summer a number of Toronto's architecture and design firms hold an annual party, and of those, none get talked up quite as much as the ones thrown by the creative minds at RAW Design, very ably assisted their friends at Kim Graham & Associates. RAW had a tough act to follow up on after 'RAW Energy', last year's aesthetically dazzling display focusing on human power, set up atop a Downtown parking garage with an amazing view of its surroundings. This year, RAW cheekily offered food, drink, art, architecture and entertainment in a stripped-down, unconventional environment, when a storage locker in The Junction was transformed for 'RAW Material'.
A storage locker?
It helped that this particular locker door at Planet Storage on Dupont Street rolled up to reveal an 11,000 square foot brick, post and beam warehouse space. The terrific space, with a great view out over the Milton and Georgetown GO Trains which regularly passed by, was available as a once-only opportunity as online accounting firm Freshbooks are about to scoop it up as part of their new 45,000 square foot office at the site.
To decorate the room, the theme of this year's RAW Material event was brought out in the basic building elements of brick, wood and metal mesh that formed the bars, seating areas, and decorations.
The room's main feature were wooden 'houses' suspended from the ceiling, used as screens for projections, and illuminated from within.
A collection of whimsical wooden architectural elements also highlighted the theme with installations reminiscent of the popsicle stick sculptures many of us constructed as children. The 2 by 4 'popsicle sticks' in this case were courtesy of ML Lumber & Building Supplies while the houses wouldn't have had walls nor roofs without the help of Rayette Forest Products.
Invitees were encouraged to step inside the suspended houses, providing intimate gathering spaces within the larger space…
…while the 2 by 4 structures could be enjoyed inside or out.
Triumph Custom Roofing and Primeline Windows and Doors also added to the space's constructions, including a glass-walled room with fluorescent highlighter graphics set off by blacklight.
Speaking of blacklight, installations on their own do not a party make, so plenty of libations were on offer, including artisanal gin-and-tonics from sponsor Victoria Gin of Vancouver Island, beautifully blended with Fentiman's Tonic Water. If you managed to get your G+T all the way to the other end of the space, real quinine in the Fentiman's meant that your drink glowed blue under blacklight.
Elsewhere, bars stocked with Nickel Brook beer and Ontario wines were made out of artfully laid brick from sponsor Brampton Brick, the Toronto area's largest supplier of clay bricks.
In the food department, guests had plenty of choices thanks to Sublime Catering, including spicy chick pea and chicken crepes, cedar plank smoked trout, Mongolian Hot Pot soup served in mason jars, and ricotta made on-the-spot and topped with berries in coulis.
Completing the ambience, DJ Alex Merrell returned to spin discs and keep the party hopping.
RAW employees put hundreds of hours of work into getting RAW Material together, and lots of partners contributed to the night's success. Principal Roland Rom Colthoff briefly second-guesses himself when he thinks of the amount of time spent, but knows the team enjoys the freedom to exercise their creativity, and values the inspiration and community building that come from the exercise. More than anything though, everyone at RAW enjoys the chance to connect with colleagues, clients, and friends, show off a tiny bit, and have a great time in general. We're up with that.
