As other financial companies make moves to go digital, Peoples Group engages clients face-to-face. The progressive planning on this four-floor tenant improvement project floods employees with daylight and warmth, and turns this Canadian financial institution’s ‘human first’ ethos inwards. This sensibility is summarized in a collaborative environment with break-out rooms, nooks, and phone booths that support focused work. The “strength of a tree” concept was inspired by corporate values: this deeply-rooted and locally-based Vancouver company becomes increasingly stable and beautiful as it grows.
- Location
- Vancouver, BC
- Size
- 33,480 sq ft
- Client
- Peoples Group
- Completion
- 2019
- Collaborators
Applied Engineering Solutions Ltd
AME Group
LMDG Building Code Consultants Ltd- DIALOG Services
Interior Design
Peoples Group is best epitomized as a tree. Its legacy and human-first approach are found in strong roots. The design draws on this and extends inviting branches through the office.
Wood factors prominently in all aspects of the design – it is the first thing that visitors and staff see when they come into the lobby area.
The fourteenth floor, or tree trunk, is the company’s heart… its gathering place.
This social heart delivers conference rooms, a large kitchen, and an inviting reception area.
Dowels define hubs as long, linear directionless tiles, much like the natural growth of branches move through the space.
The practice of counting the rings of trees to tell their age is shown through a meta rug that welcomes clients at reception, and the overhead lighting above collaborative spaces.
Wood grains with exposed grading were used for workstation surfaces…
… and thread the tree concept throughout the space.
The Team
The team was fascinated by the idea of tree branches sprawling across the ceiling. Wood and lights are used to evoke this idea.
Carpets in the collaborative corners are a few shades darker, suggesting a shaded area beneath a canopy of branches.
These corners are comfortable, suggesting soft and park-like spaces.
