Workspace Design

Design and develop a 17,508 ft2, two-story office space for a software company. The existing building is located at 11 Adelaide Street W in Toronto and the office occupies the second and third story of the four-story building.

The design goal for this project was to create an innovative work environment that stimulates interaction and enhances opportunities for collaboration.

Overview

Activity-Based Workplace Design, evidence-based design, conceptual development, ergonomics, flexibility, office design, post-COVID design, biophilic design, sustainability.

Keywords

Solo project

Designed: 2023

Area: 17,508 ft2

Duolingo (chosen fictional) - Canadian HQ

Level 2+3, 111 Adelaide Street W, Toronto, ON

Client

The design opened up quite a large part of the second floor to visually connect the two levels of the office and create a gathering place for broader company announcements.

Concept: Hiking the Bruce Trail

One of the most well-known hikes accessible to the GTA is the Bruce Trail, which runs from Niagara Falls to Tobermory (on Georgian Bay). Many people break up this 1,300 km trek into smaller day or weekend hikes, but others use this diverse and fascinating journey to challenge themselves by doing it all in one shot.

The idea was to bring this diverse natural trail into the office, incorporating strong biophilic elements connected to attention restoration theory (ART) and overall well-being. To create an overall feel of the outdoors inside, colours, shapes, patterns, and textures inspired by the terrain along the trail were used throughout the office design. Additionally, large-scale photographic murals of Ontario and Quebec landscapes were used to adorn many of the walls.

“Falstaff Trail” - a walk-and-talk trail that covers the perimeter of the second level, simulating a hike…even in the cold of winter.

Activity-based Workplace Design.

The upper floor of the office, which houses the development and creative teams, applies the principles of Activity-Based Workplace Design (ABW) to create various flexible, collaborative spaces.

Rather than having designated workspaces, there is a floating system with movable lockers supplied for leaving equipment and personal items at the office. This allows each team member to work where and how they want.

Building in flexibility

I incorporated an abundance of acoustic furniture and lighting to reduce ambient noise and improve focus—addressing studies that show noise distractions can lower productivity by up to 66% in open offices.

There are also different levels of acoustic privacy built into the space, from PET felt desk separators for reduced distractions to enclosed acoustic huts for increased conversational privacy.

Dealing with open-space issues

Acoustic benching and lighting by BuzziSpace are separated by forest-shaped moveable acoustic partitions by SixInch to create a level of acoustic privacy for cozy discussions, while enclosed “treehouse” acoustic meeting pods provide extra privacy in the background.

Though the ceilings are high and the space is wide open, several acoustic elements have been incorporated into the design so that sound levels in the space remain comfortable for even the most distractable employee.

Acoustic furniture

One of my favourite parts of the office to design was the custom round library between the service banks on the second floor. I aimed to create a quiet space that would feel like sitting under the trees.

Frovi’s Bae seating carries the curvilinear shapes through the library while Snowsound leaf ceiling baffles keep the space quiet and festive.

Treehouse Library

Moveable storage drawers on wheels, lockers, and various workspaces allow employees to choose where and how they want to work each day at the office. Quite often, especially in development and creative teams, people will want to move around to work alongside their current project team members (who could change weekly or monthly, depending on the office).

The moveable storage drawers can be personalized with colours, stickers, and other paraphernalia. This also allows for flex workers that spend part of their working week at home.

Hotdesking

Plans

Below are various representations of the two floors: the lower, more structured level (holding conference rooms, finance, HR, and IT), and the upper level, which is almost entirely open and flexible (holding marketing, development, and sales). I created rendered floorplans so you can see the “Flagstaff Trail” that spans the perimeter of the second floor (green carpeted area), axonometric 3D images, and department breakdowns.