Colliers Project Leaders were looking to move offices within the same building at their Halifax location gaining a more efficient space with options for collaboration. SGH worked alongside Colliers to provide guidance and knowledge on trends in office design and agile working in order to design and develop the new office.

Taking place over the course of the Pandemic, SGH provided two space plans. The first showing a 50% occupancy based on COVID restrictions, and a 100% occupied space based off the functional program provided by Colliers. Finishes, modular walls, and furniture were to align with brand standards.

Due to the tight schedule and COVID pandemic a Construction Manager was bought on board by Colliers in order to aid in schedules, budgeting, and a timely construction period.

Acting as Prime Consultant SGH was able to have more direct lines of communication with consultants. Clear, concise communication was key during construction in order to meet all deadlines.

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Space-as-a-Service

Space-as-a-Service businesses provide flexible work environments that are leased on an as needed basis. The concept was normalized by companies like WeWork, Regus, and SPACES who focused on flexible, vibrant, and youthful coworking spaces.  The concept has since matured, and more Space-as-a-Service businesses are emerging, looking to offer a wider variety of coworking experiences.  They carefully review local business needs, customers and location.

Future of Space-as-a-Service

SGH worked with ModSpace Atlantic, to convert 3 existing vacant spaces they owned, into a fully flexible workplace that offers premium features, services, IT and security.  Their goal was to create an “elevated, contemporary and light-filled” space that caters to evolving workplace needs and provides a truly inviting workplace experience. Space as a Service does two great things; provide desirable, alternative solutions for people and organizations who do not want to take on the risk of long-term leases and they are revitalizing existing spaces, that were otherwise sitting empty, which helps to keep buildings and neighbourhoods vital places.

An increasing division between good and not great real estate is increasing, as Class A buildings, in prime locations continue to keep tenants but with Class B and C buildings starting to empty out impacting both property value and neighbourhood vibrancy.  Space as a Service provides an ideal workspace with attractive services, comfort, and functionality in alternative locations where this likely does not exist, meeting a new demand.

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Modspace retained SGH for their Dartmouth location on the corner of Highway 111 and Burnside Drive. The elevated design and careful attention to detail provide a unique environment for their members. Shared amenities such as the meeting rooms, lunchroom, document services, and breakout spaces ensure that its use is inviting for those who work in and visit the space. Their new space sets the standard of co-working spaces high.

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The appetite to shift towards flexibility continues to grow in popularity. This hybrid shift falls within a workplace spectrum, one end of the spectrum is having the goal to fully return to the office with 100% assigned seating for each member of the team. The opposite end represents a fully agile workplace with no assigned seating and more space provided for shared collaboration. While these are the two ends of the spectrum, there are many workstyles that fall in between. A local Toronto Design firm, SGH Design Partners, has established five workstyle models within this spectrum that quickly gauge where the leadership team is comfortable shifting towards.

Strategizing change is not new to SGH Design Partners. For the past 35 years SGH has been designing workplaces where people do their best work. Utilizing our envision discovery process as the jumping off point, SGH has been working with industry leaders to understand what this new HYBRID environment will look like for them.

Our interior design studios in Toronto, Vancouver and Halifax have worked with Clients across the country. For some clients, like a current Canadian forestry company in Vancouver, British Columbia, we began months in advance of their lease expiring. With an understanding that their current space was no longer meeting growth and accelerating shifts in work patterns, SGH took time to listen and analyze leadership’s long-term goals, focus and collaboration requirements, standard footprints and developed a master planning approach that includes HYBRID work activities. SGH determined the right square footage required to get them there and clearly outlined what this would look like. This generated a collective positive energy and with this information in hand, their real estate broker was able to find them a space that checked all their boxes. SGH continues to be an intrinsic part of the team as we move to complete construction towards the end of 2022.

SGH is working with a variety of companies to put in place adaptable solutions that provide options to accommodate both flexible and fixed hybrid work styles. Another one of our clients, who is a global provider of agricultural science and technology, engaged SGH to work through an extensive envision strategy process which helped guide a significant change from dedicated workstations to an agile model. The strategy includes the provision of enclosed collaboration spaces that meet privacy and confidentially requirements. This was key in gaining trust from key leadership who opted to give up assigned private offices knowing they would not be fully occupied. The gain is that real estate is now allocated to a variety of shared collaboration spaces that will support a seamless hybrid work experience for all employees. It will be a destination space that brings their people together to collaborate, socialize and foster health and well-being. SGH is currently working towards completion of this project in 2022.

The option to pilot hybrid work settings in existing space is also a viable approach. Another client, who is a global pharmaceutical company, reached out to SGH to look at reworking a section of workstations that are currently held vacant due to people successfully working remotely. Creating spaces with freestanding furniture solutions that provide fully integrated audio-visual connection. SGH has incorporated a combination of open and enclosed collaboration zones that support the shift to a more collaborative work zone in the office.
The Hybrid Workplace is the future, and we believe that the office will continue to be the heart and soul of where people work and connect with one another.
If you have any questions please reach out to our team, we are happy to help you and your team find
the best workplace solution for you.

SGH is a privately owned national Corporate Interior Design firm with its head office based in Toronto, Ontario. We service clients from coast to coast with our two branch offices in Vancouver, British Columbia and Halifax, Nova Scotia. For more information about SGH Design Partners please visit our website at www.sghdp.com.

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We have discussed in some previous blogs our 3 tier model when it comes to our Envision Strategy.

Tier One: Planning for Now
Tier Two: Planning for Transition
Tier Three: Planning for the Future

So, what exactly goes into each of these tiers and how do we work with you to help guide you to the best outcome for your individual needs? Let’s break it down a bit more starting with Tier One: Planning for NOW.

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This 90,000 sq.ft. project required complete programming and client engagement workshop for all stakeholder groups. SGH utilized all of Technology Client’s design guidelines while providing a design that reflects the local and programmatic requirements of this Halifax office.

The result is a beautifully bright and welcoming space with large graphic walls, and an open workplace setting full of natural light.

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SGH Design Partners worked closely with the steering committee to obtain the sign off required by Eckler’s partners. The project relocated Eckler’s existing offices to a new location, that provided an opportunity for a full transition of their offices.

One of the key design objectives was to ensure natural light was available for all staff. This required all offices and enclosed spaces to be located around the building core, leaving the perimeter open. New workstations were provided for all staff with low panels allowing natural light and uninterrupted sightlines throughout the office. An interconnected stair attached the two floors for this space, which hosted a unique lighting feature.

The finished space is bright and reflects the Eckler brand. Natural light engulfs this North York location and unique features throughout the space, like this Eckler logo made from calculators, provide the office with a fun and welcoming space for their team.

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It was critical that SGH design a space that was a functional and efficient office space for Ivanhoe Cambridge that would reflect their company values and goals. Inspired by their new 7245 sq.ft. office in this modern industrial building, concrete, wood and dark metals were used throughout the space in combination with transparent glass which optimized the natural light and gave sightlines to the beautiful mountain and city views to the north.

Pops of blue, green, and orange are featured strategically throughout the office creating bold and fun accents that give the space a sophisticated, yet comforting feel. The space has elegant contrast with bright white counters and walls and dark metals, and lighting features throughout. These elements all work towards Ivanhoe Cambridge’s goal of a sophisticated atmosphere and leave you feeling inspired and ready to thrive in the workplace.

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PagerDuty retained SGH Design Partners as the prime designer to help lead this transition to their new home office. With the technology sector booming, being one of Toronto’s fastest growing industries, PagerDuty was looking to remain ahead of the game for employee attraction and wanted to create a space that was conducive to open collaboration, team building, and overall employee wellness.

PagerDuty’s culture and brand were used as key drivers in the design of their new 24,000 sq.ft. office. The brand focused space was designed with standardized benching stations, enclosed and open meeting spaces equipped with latest technology that were named after Toronto landmarks, and a large lunchroom with games area that supported a town hall function as well. A portion of the space was designed for sub-tenant purposes which PagerDuty could take back in the future as the company grows and requires the extra square footage.

The finished space turned out absolutely beautiful! Pops of colour throughout the new office complement PagerDuty’s personality and brand while the Toronto landmark named meeting spaces bring the city into this forward-thinking company.

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