About Orrville Collaborative Inc.
Orrville Collaborative Inc. (OCi) is a group of professionals specifically focused on built solutions for the District of Parry Sound. They include an Architect, Engineers, Management and Cost Consultants, Artists and a Software Developer. While these activities are often thought of as luxuries, they are in fact, disciplines that are required in a growing community. OCi's main areas of interest and expertise are institutional, municipal, multiple housing and heritage projects. The District, in spite of it's large geographic size, is a small market for these types of projects. Orrville Collaborative has chosen a delivery model more familiar to health care in which participants work independently and share office space, staff, research, contacts, local knowledge and accommodation. This means that the more complex projects which might have required a consultant from away can now be addressed within the District.
To the left is how West Parry Sound Health Centre (WPSHC) James Street Hospital, looked for the past 30 years. In September 2004 OCi's Sheena Sharp, Michael Copas and Bob Holmes imagined this building differently and presented their thoughts to a somewhat skeptical audience. This Summer those concepts will be a reality, adding 64 apartment units to downtown Parry Sound.
Currently, the OCi team is also working on a project for the Parry Sound District Social Services Administration Board. To date three houses have been removed to make way for a new parking lot and this will soon be followed by a major office renovation and addition to DSSAB's existing Church Street headquarters.
Further south OCi is helping Seguin imagine a future for the settlement area known as Humphrey. The proposition started with the question "what would Humphrey look like if the population were to double?" Although a report will be delivered soon, the true outcome is yet to be seen.
In Orrville, our firm's namesake, we are restoring and relocating the former Orange Lodge as a residence and office for ourselves and an apartment for others. This redefinition of use and savaging of an abandoned property is consistent with and an expression of our business and beliefs.
OCi believes the future of the Parry Sound District is in preserving the past by saving and reusing old buildings and converting the use of those building by embracing new technology. Imagining the future and changing it on paper will always be cheaper than building first and fixing after.