PHOTOS COURTESY OF ME&LEWIS 28 BCBUSINESS JUNE 2017
M
e&Lewis Ideas Inc. is a Vancouver
advertising agency with a twist,
starting with its name.
"Me&" is a play on Meehan, surname of
creative strategist Paul Meehan, who co-
founded the company in 2007 with senior
creative director Je• Lewis. The -rm,
whose clients range from Miller Brewing
Co. and distillers William Grant & Sons
Ltd. to Vancouver International Airport
and White Spot Ltd., originally occupied
a 100-year-old house in Kitsilano. "Eighty
per cent of clients loved it, and 20 were
like, 'Oh, you're in a house,' and they didn't
quite get it," Meehan recalls.
Three years ago, Me&Lewis purchased
its current headquarters, a 10,000-square-
foot midcentury low-rise at the corner of
Oak Street and Seventh Avenue in Fairview
Slopes. Twenty-four of the 40 employees
work there; the company also has o•ces in
Toronto (in a renovated house) and
London, England.
"The hard part was -nding a space that
kept that house feel and was a little di•er-
ent than moving into an o•ce building or
even just renting a space in Gastown," says
Meehan's wife, Melissa, who oversaw the
building's renovation. "We really wanted
to -gure out how we make it not so quote-
unquote oce."
Because the former textile warehouse
is built into the hill and the ground
›oor is tenanted, the entrance to the
second-›oor Me&Lewis o•ce is o• the
lane. Just inside the door are the kitchen,
bar and living room, with a row of desks
next to the windows overlooking Oak
Street. "In the old space there was the
kitchen, and when it was small beginnings
everyone would sit down for lunch, and
we've really kept that tradition alive,"
Melissa explains. "We tried to put the
enerœy and e•ort into creating good bones
and a comfortable atmosphere so we can
host events, have parties and keep that
home atmosphere."
Personal Taste
A lover of art and
music, co-founder
Paul Meehan
displays his guitars
on the wall of his
office, which also
contains his classic
stereo and vinyl-
record collection
OFFICE SPACE
House Rules
Advertising firm Me&Lewis designed
its Vancouver headquarters to feel like
a home
by Felicity Stone
