A staircase designed for spontaneous meetings and treadmill desks are just two of the elements that characterise the new, modern Deloitte HQ in Montreal.
The 500,000 sq ft building designed by Arney Fender Katsalidis is the first pure office scheme to be developed in Montreal for 20 years. The premises are entirely structured around hot desking and this bold move signals the start of a new wave of work place design for major corporations in Canada.
More than 1,000 full-time Deloitte staff were moved into the new premises over one weekend in June thanks to an ambitious programme to consolidate everyone’s personal work documents into just one drawer – all of which are now lined up in designated areas around the new HQ.
There are no fixed work stations and staff are encouraged to book a desk either each day or for the week based on the type of work they are likely to be doing at the time.
“There are neighbourhoods where teams can sit together but they have to book their stations separately even then,” said Paul-Andre Rivest, project coordinator at La Tour Deloitte. “And we do suggest employees pick a work station that matches what they are doing day by day and their subsequent needs whether it is an enclosed, quiet space or a desk in one of the open plan break-out areas.”
There are even “walking desks” on every floor where employees can use a treadmill as they work.
Based on extensive employee consultation before the design of the project was finalised the office also boasts a wellness centre complete with massage room and studio space for daily fitness classes, an open-plan bistro restaurant and a Greenhouse Innovation Centre specifically designed for creative thinking.
The Montreal HQ design ethos is now being rolled out and will be applied to the new Toronto HQ due to open in March 2016 when staff from eight offices will move into the new $475m (£313m) building.
