what is
designequity™
designequity™ is an exercise that continues to expand our design application by introducing innovative practices, concepts and workshops to our process. It is a practice of empathy that helps us best represent the people we design for using a thoughtful interior design process.
Projects with designequity™ at the center allow for radical hospitality, compassion, and a shared community understanding to guide designs that reflect and respect the people’s stories and spaces.
How it works
award-winning process.
We begin our projects with an exploration that guides us to the Design Concept for each interior design project - a differentiator of the Determined By Design process.
Projects are driven by Design Concepts that connect to their community and provide context and depth to our designs. They protect places from being tethered to fleeting trends. Instead, creating spaces for people that provide Design Equity™ for all.
The Land
The Site
The Neighbourhood

“We take our time to find a concept. We do the research.”
Creating a design concept
Start with some time-travel
A: Start with the land and indegious story
B: Jump to colonization and when it was settled

Find the human stories
A: Who are the local businesses?
B: Why is the park named this?

Use research to create a Design Concept.

Our team takes schematic designs with equity gaps and turns them into spaces that build community.
In the original schematic design presented, waiting areas did not allow for intentional communing or make the most of the square footage.
In the original schematic design presented, waiting areas did not allow for intentional communing or make the most of the square footage.
By integrating Design Equity into the schematic design we increased utility, added pathways for traffic, and nurtured spontaneous community building – all within the limits and needs of our design partners.
Intentional seating groups host intimate engagements. A new mezzanine anchors the space and increases square footage.



Our team takes schematic designs with equity gaps and turns them into spaces that build community.
In the original schematic design presented, waiting areas did not allow for intentional communing or make the most of the square footage.



In the original schematic design presented, waiting areas did not allow for intentional communing or make the most of the square footage.
By integrating Design Equity into the schematic design we increased utility, added pathways for traffic, and nurtured spontaneous community building – all within the limits and needs of our design partners.
Intentional seating groups host intimate engagements. A new mezzanine anchors the space and increases square footage.