CIOB President's Club Event Photography
What an amazing event and what appropriate venue! Last night we were lucky enough to photograph the annual President’s Inaugural Dinner at the members’ forum of the CIOB (Chartered Institute of Building). As a person living in a big city you frequently think of the engineers and architects that work on various project, but last night we saw how important the work of the ‘Building Manager’ actually is. CIOB is the association, which brings together business managers and sets the standards for ethical business practices. Every year they have an annual conference, which takes place in a carefully hand-picked location around the world. This year the venue was ‘The Liberty Grand’ in Toronto, Canada. The venues are specifically picked to be meaningful to the construction industry and, with no doubt, the Liberty Grand with it’s triangular layout, rich history, beautiful decoration and the inviting inner garden was an optimum choice. It was totally eye-opening to see what an amazing group of people the professionals of the CIOB are. The event consisted of the handing off of the baton from the previous president to the newly elected president, as well as a summary of accomplishments from previous years, reflections on what has gone well and a celebration of youth in the industry through the award ceremony for the best university building project. It was absolutely wonderful to see that the winners of this prestigious award were students from toronto’s own, George Brown College who edged out over 60 teams from around the world to score the most points on their project design.
Photographing events at the Liberty Grand is always a pleasure because the venue is always so nice and the staff so welcoming, however this time it was very special because everyone who was at the venue truly appreciated the splendor of the building and its rich history. We took the time to photograph the front face of the building. As a Liberty Grand photographer, we usually miss this important feature since it currently faces Lakeshore and is rarely used as the main entrance, however historically this was the main face of the building, facing the lake with a broad boardwalk leading down all the way to the lake. Currently, the boardwalk is closed off since Lake Shore Blvd runs through there, however the two beautiful figures of lions are still visible. These majestic beasts historically welcomed visitors into this fantastic building.
As far as the event is concerned it was wonderful to see how much emphasis has been placed on the topics of sustainable building practices, greenhouse emissions and youth involvement. It was spectacular to witness the top 6 teams from around the world attend the gala event as these are the people who may in the future lead the building professional industry. It was also heartwarming to see our own Toronto-based college win the award and the wonderful meet and photograph the people who were part of the team. We also had a chance to meet the CIOB commissioners from various countries, who were extremely friendly and certainly very engaged in the industry. As photographers we felt truly welcomed and really a part of the event. Thank You CIOB for a fantastic event and for hiring us capture and be a part of your special day!
For more information about studioEPIC our event coverage please visit our event photography page.
Alice Bil-Szot
