The team brought the Early Childhood Education department’s mission to life. Children play and laugh in front of a fantasy-inspired decor where the imaginary meets the natural world. Educators are depicted in the form of large watermark silhouettes that nurture the children and help them develop. Large circles dot the corridors; a nod to the importance of movement and relationships within the department. The circles represent the close connection and communication between educator and child and between child and educator. 

The colour scheme both unites and delineates the department’s space. The team chose an all-white scheme due to the colour’s purity and light-reflecting properties. A white colour scheme was a suitable choice for the department, offering a calming effect in a constantly changing world. The white is broken up by a band of colour near the ceiling.

This colourful band changes from apple green to yellow and turquoise and adds a pop of feel-good energy to the entire department.

A unifying project

The project remained true to the values of Cégep Marie-Victorin by bringing together the skills of interior designers and graphic designers. The designers involved are also college employees so they were incredibly invested and engaged throughout the process. Now that the project has been completed, they are all very proud of this achievement, a crowning glory of the past eight years of hard work. The involvement of the Early Childhood Education department staff also inspired the project’s conceptual approach; the collaborative, unifying nature of the process, in particular. 

Project founder: Sylvain Mandeville, Cégep Marie-Victorin’s General Director

Principal project designers: Louise Gélinas, interior designer, and Christine Côté, graphic designer and Graphic Design teacher at Cégep Marie-Victorin

Awards and prizes won by Cégep Marie-Victorin in recent years:

• Grands Prix du Design 2016, multidisciplinary category
• Prix Estim 2015, awarded by the Eastern Montreal Chamber of Commerce (Chambre de commerce de l’Est de Montréal), innovation or development project in the public/semi-public sector
• Grands prix du Design 2011, big ideas on a small budget category
• Special mention at Grafika 2011

About the Cégep Marie-Victorin

Cégep Marie-Victorin, a public college in north-east Montreal, offers a broad range of courses, several of which are artistic in nature (Graphic Design, Interior Design and Visual Arts). Since 2008, the college has improved its environment with a series of major renovation projects.