By Duncan Kinney
Everyone at Kasian’s Toronto office, from junior designer to firm principal, gets the same eight feet of workspace, mobile utility cart, dual LCD screen setup and Windows PC along the floor to ceiling windows.
“It’s all about the people, so why not give them the best views? The principals are entitled to offices but when we moved into the space, they decided to sit out in the studio close to the windows and be a part of the team,” says Dean Matsumoto, a principal with Kasian who directed the interior design of the office.
Their democratic approach to office space helps promote equality and team building while making it easy for people to move around after projects are completed.
Built in a soft loft style with around 20,000 square feet, the architecture, interior design and planning firms’ Toronto office is a light-filled collaborative space. The walls are free from fancy prints and motivational sayings. Instead every wall in the office is magnetic, whiteboard or tackable and covered in the work of the moment.
“We’re always pinning up work to look at it, study it. The walls serve a purpose.”
A favourite feature of Matsumoto’s is the “Touchdown” area. It links the boardroom to the reception area with a long glass table. A multi-use area, one day it could be home to a standup project presentation, another it might double as “the best bar in Toronto.”
The first thing you see when entering the office is the view of downtown Toronto.
It’s located west of downtown, near the trendy and newly converted to mixed use Liberty Village. Surrounded by artists and fellow creatives, Matsumoto is very happy with the location.
“There is lots of live-work space around us. It’s a very vibrant neighbourhood. It’s helped us to attract people.”
The open kitchen is incorporated into what Matsumoto calls the “marketplace.” You’ll find the copy machine, fax, printers and office supplies as well as the research library all in the same place. If you have to go up and get some “stuff,” this is where you’ll be going.
Matsumoto, who designed the space, loves how it came together.
“The fact that it’s so bright is energizing right off the bat. One thing about our office is that there is nowhere to hide because it’s so open. The people that you’re working with are immediately accessible.”
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is their edmonton office the same way?
I’m unsure. I only talked to the Toronto people.
The main floor of the Edmonton office is very similar. It was recently renovated to include the same workstations in a light-filled, collaborative, open office. Reception (second floor) was also renovated to achieve the same Kasian standard, complete with an ‘Inspiration’ wall that draws you in as it curves away from the glass doored entrance into the reception/waiting area. The rest of the main floor was given a minor facelift to brighten up the space.
This office concept has been carried over into Kasian’s other offices as well, including their main office on West Pender just blocks from Stanley Park in downtown Vancouver.