Client: Park Property Management
Architect: Quadrangle Architects
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Duration: Six months
Size: 279 sq m
I think it’s fair to say that as humans we mostly try and find the simplest or most direct solution when faced with a task, like taking a motorway route to help cut a car journey’s time. Today especially have numerous ‘conveniences’ to aid our quest for quicker and easier, but sometimes it pays to turn off the sat nav and take a little time to explore.
The same can be said of design. To produce the bog-standard when issued with the straightforward is often a logical approach, but without a little sightseeing those all-important key details can get missed. So when Canadian property company Park Property commissioned Quadrangle Architects to design its new office space, converting a 279 sq m penthouse of a Seventies’ residential apartment building, previously used for storage, it too could have had a very different outcome.
Open-plan office
‘The design brief was very simple,’ says Caroline Robbie, principal head of Quadrangle’s Interiors Groups. ‘It said: Take the existing penthouse, which is being used for storage, and convert it to office space.’ Quadrangle’s interiors group took its initial inspiration from the building itself by maintaining prime, pre-existing fixtures and features – including a folded concrete ceiling and terrazzo flooring – while also integrating materials, colours and furnishings to create a contemporary space. Yet Quadrangle felt that the ‘simple’ conversion deserved something a little more glamorous and decided to refit the space with star-studded appeal, turning a potentially static (and dare I say dull?) project on its head.
The kitchen
‘We used the words "Mad Men",’ says Robbie, referencing the American hit TV drama Mad Men about a Sixties’ ad agency as the scheme’s source of inspiration. ‘We aimed to capture the romance of that era in a modern workplace,’ she says. And looking at the images the influence is clear.
Using an elevator to gain access to the offices, visitors are immediately struck while in the lift lobby by the mid-century-style black and gold micro-print wallpaper, customdeveloped by Quadrangle from Park Property’s logo. Colours and patterns reminiscent of the Sixties complement the original terrazzo flooring, and Interface carpet tiles are used to create a rug look.
Meeting space
For the office space, creating an open-plan format with two private offices and breakout spaces, maximises the natural daylight on the floor. ‘The space has wonderful natural light and the flow from the elevator lobby through the open office to the collaborative meeting and social spaces works very well,’ explains Robbie. The overall layout and decor is similar of a residential interior, with the Herman Miller workstations further ‘disguising’ the office and aiding the scheme’s retro feel.
Maximising the building’s natural light provided some shading control issues, with the conventional shading systems being unsuitable for the building’s non-standard window shapes, whose glass had been replaced with energy efficient glazing. Nevertheless the design team were able to meet the challenge with a combination of tinted glass film, roller blinds and ambient lighting fixtures.
Private office
In key areas Quadrangle refurbished and reused existing wall and pendant lights while integrating new lighting into the scheme to allow the folded concrete ceiling to remain the focus. Ensuring a high degree of function and comfort for Park Property’s employees – to reflect its core values of long-standing relationships, quality, craftsmanship and family – as well as adding unique retro design twists separates the office space from the ordinary. ‘The quality of the interior space is light, airy and dramatic. The addition of era-appropriate furnishings gives the space the sex appeal of that Mad Men era. We like to think of it as not your average property management office,’ says Robbie.
The unusual architecture and historic context create an instant classic and one that will undoubtedly claim a place in the Canadian iconic design list. (The building was also the setting in the opening sequence of cult Canadian comedy series SCTV, a spin-off from a Seventies’ TV show). ‘The architecture is instantly recognisable in the opening sequence because of the folded concrete penthouse roof,’ says Robbie.
Wash room
Words by Emily Martin
