RICHMOND HILL, ON (Thursday, October 29, 2020) – Today, Volvo Cars Canada opened submissions for a uniquely 2020 design challenge in partnership with the Interior Design Show (IDS): The New Garage Design Challenge. Open to design enthusiasts of all levels from professional to amateur across Canada, the challenge is intended to re-imagine the often-neglected garage space which, following stay-at-home conditions, has become a new frontier in design. In fact, a recent study* revealed that one third of Canadians feel the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way they view their home and nearly 40 per cent believe their garage is a neglected area of their home.
With 40 per cent of Canadians reporting the desire to create more livable spaces in their homes, the goal of The New Garage Design Challenge is to empower conceptual thinkers, design thought leaders, and ultimately all eligible Canadians, to re-think the entire garage and vehicle relationship into one that embodies livable, innovative and sustainable elements.
The New Garage Design Challenge has been established in partnership with IDS, launching shortly after IDS Vancouver and culminating with an exciting showcase at 2021 IDS Toronto in May, where the winning design submission will be showcased within the Volvo Car Canada Ltd. footprint at the 2021 Toronto IDS.
“Alongside safety, sustainability and Scandinavian design are two of our key areas of focus at Volvo Cars, and The New Garage allows us to showcase these elements in new and exciting ways,” says Matt Girgis, Managing Director, Volvo Cars Canada. “The challenge is inspired by the XC40 Recharge, our first fully-electric vehicle arriving later this year. As Canadians shift toward electric car adoption, we have the opportunity to integrate these vehicles into our lives and our homes in a new way, making them an expression of our personal values.”
“Volvo Cars Canada has been a great partner of IDS for several years,” says Karen Kang, Managing Director & Head of Content, IDS Toronto. “Their leadership in design and sustainability within the automotive space is incomparable, and we are proud to partner with them for The New Garage Design Challenge and inspire Canadians to reimagine their spaces and reconsider the meaning of a life well designed.”
Entries will be evaluated by a judging panel of highly regarded Canadian architects and designers hailing from Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal, as well as Volvo Cars’ own Head of Design based in Gothenburg, Sweden. Interested applicants can tune into a panel discussion with the judges on October 29, 2020 at 3:00 PM EDT at http://volvoca.rs/TNG to find out more from the judges about what they will be looking for in a winning submission.
About the Judges:
Additional Challenge Details:
Survey Methodology:
*From September 8th to September 9th 2020 an online survey of 1,520 randomly selected Canadian adults who are Maru Voice Canada panelists was executed by Maru/Blue. For comparison purposes, a probability sample of this size has an estimated margin of error (which measures sampling variability) of +/- 2.5%, 19 times out of 20. The results have been weighted by education, age, gender and region (and in Quebec, language) to match the population, according to Census data. This is to ensure the sample is representative of the entire adult population of Canada. Discrepancies in or between totals are due to rounding.
About Volvo Car Canada Ltd.
Volvo Car Canada Ltd. is a subsidiary of Volvo Car Group of Gothenburg, Sweden. VCCL provides marketing, sales, parts, service, technology and training support to the 36 Volvo automobile retailers across Canada. For more information please refer to the Volvo Cars Canada media website at: www.media.volvocars.com/ca/en-ca.
About Volvo Car Group
Volvo Cars was founded in 1927. Today, it is one of the most well-known and respected premium car brands in the world with sales of 705,452 cars in 2019 in about 100 countries. Volvo Cars has been under the ownership of the Zhejiang Geely Holding since 2010.
In 2019, Volvo Cars employed on average approximately 41,500 (41,500) full-time employees. Volvo Cars head office, product development, marketing and administration functions are mainly located in Gothenburg, Sweden. Volvo Cars head office for APAC is located in Shanghai. The company’s main car production plants are located in Gothenburg (Sweden), Ghent (Belgium), South Carolina (US), Chengdu and Daqing (China), while engines are manufactured in Skövde (Sweden) and Zhangjiakou (China) and body components in Olofström (Sweden).
Under its new company purpose, Volvo Cars aims to provide customers with the Freedom to Move in a personal, sustainable and safe way. This purpose is reflected into a number of business ambitions: for example, by the middle of this decade it aims for half of its global sales to be fully electric cars and to establish five million direct consumer relationships. Volvo Cars is also committed to an ongoing reduction of its carbon footprint, with the ambition to be a climate-neutral company by 2040.
