This Toronto office has been designed with a post-covid workspace in mind. Created for the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) by international architecture firm HOK, it is the fast-growing global consulting firm's Canadian headquarters. The 400-person-strong team now has a fresh interior for their day-to-day operations – one that not only conveys the firm's dynamism and ethos, but also cleverly leans into the needs and wants of a workforce that just came out of a pandemic, enhancing health and wellness, productivity and innovation.
‘BCG helped us learn and grow and push our boundaries in terms of transformational workplace design,' says Caitlin Turner, director of interiors for HOK in Canada.
‘This was an opportunity to demonstrate that the office wasn’t dead,' the HOK team continued. To that end, the architects worked to compose an interior that satisfies work needs but also includes an array of amenities that help support employees throughout their working day.
Collaboration and inclusivity were key to create a truly agile workspace. Flexibly designed, the spaces include open offices, case team rooms, convertible private offices, soundproof phone booths, a quiet library, a large café and individual nooks to work in next to the library.
Wellness was also high up on the architects' agenda. Embracing the position that ‘sitting is the new smoking', rooms have been designed to encourage movement. In this context, chance encounters and cross-pollination across departments were also promoted.
And while work settings are multiple and diverse, everywhere is bathed in natural light and supported by specially designed or selected, state-of-the-art office furniture. As a result of the team's efforts on the wellness front, the project has earned a WELL Health-Safety Rating. It is also on track to attain LEED Platinum Core & Shell certification and WELL Platinum Certification.
Equity in the workspace was another core concern, so as a result all rooms are bookable and everyone has the exact same workplace environment and options – and this caters for BCG’s neurodiverse population too, as interiors have been designed with a range of design strategies to ensure comfort for all.
Even the company's alumni are part of the picture. ‘Purpose-built spaces are set aside for BCG alumni who find themselves visiting Toronto or who are in the neighborhood and want to drop in and work,' the architects explain. ‘When people join BCG, they become part the BCG family – even after they leave.'
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