october 2015 BCBusiness 67 bcbusiness.ca
Street—at 72,000 square feet per 'oor.
But
CBRE chose to make merit of what
might have been a liability, connecting its
sta– vertically rather than horizontally.
Working with the architects and builders,
they arranged for a building 'oorplan that
would allow for much bigger staircases—
four feet wide with two landings each.
Then they distributed the sta– strategi-
cally throughout their four 'oors—and
locked o– the elevators on the upper sto-
reys. Want a co–ee? Step away from the
sit-stand desk and walk the stairs. Want to
chat with the investment sta– on 28 or the
retail brokers on 26? Walk the stairs. And
everybody, coming and going, must pass
through reception on 25.
"Ours is a business of information—of
the exchange of ideas and strategies,"
Taylor says. "We need to know what's
happening. We want people talking all the
time, and not just in structured meetings.
So we want those collisions." And the
stairway landings turn out to be the best
impromptu meeting spaces any ofice
worker has ever used. Employees started
moving in late spring, and by the end of
summer, workers were ‡nishing o– the
last splashy art installations. And the
reviews are all raves. Employees are alter-
natively sitting, standing, stopping on the
staircase, staring out the window and
generally bragging about the space.
CBRE
even hired Loren Bergman, who had been
head of interior design at the architecture
‡rm Perkins + Will, to be their new direc-
tor of workplace strategies so they could
share the lessons they've learned with
new clients on the move.
Of course, if you're looking for an
address to boast about—space with seri-
ous swagger—you pretty much have to
look at Telus Garden. At 448,000 square
feet, it's the largest of the new buildings
opening this year (
MNP is 270,000; 725
Granville is 300,000). In its effort to
cbre chose to make
merit of what might
haVe been a liability,
connecting its staff
Vertically rather
than horizontally.
they arranged for a
building floorplan
that would allow
for much bigger
staircases–four
feet wide with two
landings each. then,
they distributed the
staff strategically
throughout their
four floors
