Constantini Ltd. Corporate Offices

Constantini Ltd. Corporate Offices, Vancouver

RUFproject, Vancouver Photography: Ema Peter

Occupying half of the ninth floor of a new office building in downtown Vancouver, a successful family owned agribusiness focused on trading, logistics and processing was in the midst of a transition from father to son, which gave the company and the design team the opportunity to explore a new chapter for the office environment. Utilizing classic lines and refined materials juxtaposed with curved organic forms and progressive lighting, the designers jettisoned the use of walls, instead balancing open spaces with defined meeting and break out spaces through millwork. The boardroom is made from sections of curved overlapping glass and walnut panels giving the space a simultaneously open yet intimate expression. Being family run is important to the company, both in function and presentation, so totems such as a family table and fully functioning kitchen with bar capacity were given pride of place, as the social nucleus within which camaraderie is strengthened.

Desjardins - Montréal Tower

Provencher_Roy, Montréal Photography: Stéphane Brügger

Montréal’s 1976 Olympic Summer Games left a built legacy that is, shall we say, idiosyncratic. For example, the Tower’s original purpose to host sports associations and athletes-in-training never came true, but that did not mean it was beyond saving. Hence work began in 2015 to renovate and give it new life as office space. Design teams replaced an existing prefabricated concrete envelope with a curtain wall, enhancing natural light and giving interior designers a new toolbox to work with. Now the first tenants, the employees of Desjardins Movement’s online services, are reminded that they inhabit a symbol: an architectural promenade along the windows enables unobstructed views of the stadium, tower and city. That concrete colour palette is brought inside with neutral tones on the walls and light grey or marbled floor coverings in the spacious rooms. Elsewhere, the detail of the waiting area’s poppy-shaped ceiling evokes the orange hue of the original retractable roof of the Big “O”, as seen from the inside.