Project Description
The merger of two major pulp and paper companies offered an opportunity to design a workplace that would create a new unified identity and encourage interaction through the formation of team environments.
Visual openness and extensive glazing are designed to remove obstacles to interaction, and to encourage continuous learning and conversation. The 90,000 sq.ft. interior is located on two full floors of the historic Sunlife Building in Montreal.
A new thirty by thirty foot opening links the two floors with a feature staircase. The main boardroom, a cafe and central resource library are clustered around this central public space, with direct access to an outdoor terrace.
The elliptical boardroom is a freestanding object that incorporates state-of-the-art audio-visual equipment for video-conferencing and multi-media presentations. Team environments are created for groups within each department through clustering closed offices on either side of open work space.
The material palette used for the Abitibi-Consolidated offices was selected to create a sense of warmth, permanence and openness: wood, bamboo flooring, a strategic use of stone, and transparent and translucent glass screens.