When you walk into the lobby of RE/MAX House of Real Estate, your eye is immediately drawn to the bright green moss wall. White oak slats partially cover the outside of meeting rooms and the reception area, subtly spelling out the company’s name on the front desk. There are two general meeting rooms for realtors and their clients at the front of the office. RNDSQR designed the insulated honeycomb-shaped ceiling panels, which absorb sound, with DIRTT, and used white oak slats to provide a bit of privacy while still keeping the space open. Moroccan rugs from House of Persian Rugs (now HPR Gallery) add some warmth to the space and the walls double as a writing surface.
The Realtor Lounge features a small kitchen area and a mix of bench and booth seating where agents can work or bring in clients. The room is also used for meetings and company events like toy drives. “Because we have so many realtors that don’t work in the office, we wanted to have them engage and coming into the office on a regular basis. This kind of brings them in. If you don’t have something like a meeting place where they can come in and work on their laptop, then they’re going to go somewhere else. They’ll go to another coffee shop or a Tims or a Chapters. This just brings them in more, they really enjoy this. So this has been the best room, I think,” Cain says. All together, there are around 300 plants attached to the walls on either side of the room. “We get someone to come in once a week and water them,” says Majida Devani, creative director at RNDSQR. “Even on a cold winter day, you still feel nice and warm in here.” RE/MAX House of Real Estate holds regular meetings regarding company and industry updates in its classroom. Generally, around 50 real estate agents come to the meetings in person while the rest tune in via Skype. The room is also used for new realtors taking part in 12-week training programs that are offered a few times every year. 11
ARTICLES OF DESIGN
