Helping through interior design

September 14, 2011 | God at work in Us | Number 18
By Karin Fehderau | Saskatchewan Correspondent
Saskatoon, Sask.
Nicole Tiessen sits in the sample room in the design studio of Aodbt Architecture + Interior Design in Saskatoon, Sask.

If you are out running errands in Saskatoon and your travels take you to the bank, a convenience store or your doctor’s office, there’s a chance you will encounter the work and influence of Nicole Tiessen in the various buildings you pass through.



Tiessen is an interior designer. And she loves her job at Aodbt Architecture + Interior Design in Saskatoon. That comes through clearly in her smile and enthusiasm as she talks excitedly about how she gets to help people by what she does.



Helping those less fortunate through non-profit work and living out her faith through her job is a natural extension of her walk with God. “I try and live my faith by what I do,” says Tiessen, who attends Nutana Park Mennonite Church, Saskatoon. “I live it through my life, through what I do, how I treat people . . . and the work we do with our clients.”



“There’s a lot to what I do in a day, but it’s the ability to help people and to make a difference in buildings, that’s why I chose this path,” she says. “I have the ability to change a community by designing a school or [as an example] to increase awareness of mental health and addictions in Saskatoon.”



One of the challenges she faces is overcoming a false premise in many people’s minds that she gets to coordinate colours with curtains. “That’s the biggest misconception, that I do residential work and I pick paint colours,” she says.



Tiessen patiently explains the difference between interior designer and interior decorator: “Interior design is about building code analysis, construction drawings and space planning.” In her job, Tiessen helps to plan the working spaces in commercial buildings that house healthcare, education and corrections organizations, to name just a few.  



Tiessen, 30, went to school in Vancouver, B.C., for four years to earn a bachelor of interior design degree. She worked for a year in Vancouver before returning to her roots in Saskatoon.



A typical day will involve meeting with Aodbt clients, but before she and the team can do that they must first win the race for the job. “There’s a request for proposals. We submit a document saying what we bring to the project, including our resumes—the work we’ve done—and our costs,” says Tiessen. Interior design is just one part of the overall proposal.



Applicants wait to be short-listed for the project and then the teams undergo an interview with the organization that put out the original proposal. The client then picks the firm it wants.



 For each job that Aodbt tenders, she will work as part of a team to hear the needs of the client and design a usable working space based on its needs. She stresses the group approach that the firm uses. “Projects are complex. It’s a team effort,” she says.



Part of her day might involve going to the construction site, but that usually only happens if there are questions about the design or if someone made a mistake in the design. That being said, however, being onsite also gives her the chance to reconnect with the client and to see someone put flesh and bones to her idea. “It’s a really interesting feeling to see something you drew or thought of being built,” she says.



One of the unique aspects of design in Saskatchewan, says Tiessen, is that most firms do not specialize in one area. In bigger cities, there’s a tendency to pick one area in which to design, for example, the healthcare industry. But because the local economy has been sluggish in the past, Aodbt has been taking on many different kinds of commercial projects. That, in turn, allows designers like Tiessen more chance to gain experience in different areas of design.



At the end of some days Tiessen puts in a few more hours, but these are unpaid. Furthering the reach of her faith, she tries to donate her time and expertise to help non-profit groups. She believes she can also live out her faith beyond her job in how she serves on building committees and by using her design experience to help others.



Examples include helping design a new student lounge at Rosthern Junior College, Sask.; the Friendship Inn, a local drop-in centre that serves meals to the poor; and a housing project called Station20 West that Aodbt staff have helped with where needed.



“It’s an opportunity for me to contribute through design,” she says of these projects. Tiessen is thankful for a boss who encourages the staff to take advantage of these opportunities to help, and she is thankful for a chance to give back to others. 

Nicole Tiessen sits in the sample room in the design studio of Aodbt Architecture + Interior Design in Saskatoon, Sask.

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