With the Canadian unemployment rate hovering around 5%, businesses feel the increased pressure to keep their employees, with more than half implementing plans to improve or maintain retention.  Notably, employers surveyed focused on increasing wages (53.3%) and employee benefits (14.5%). While these are valid efforts, a powerful strategy is being left out of most companies’ employee retention playbook — workplace design.  Workplaces of the past were full of muted color schemes, partitioned spaces that limited employee interactions, and offered few if any, wellness-focused areas. Empl ..read more

In the 1960s, Robert Propst declared that “Today’s office…saps vitality, blocks talent, frustrates accomplishment…We find ourselves now with office forms created for a way of life substantially dead and gone.” And while we hate to lead with such a bleak sentiment, Propst’s words are echoed today by many leaders and innovators looking for a way to rethink their office spaces.  It may surprise you, then, to learn that Propst designed the first cubicle. He intended to accommodate dynamic and real-world work styles; however, the popularized cubicle became overused and lost some of its origina ..read more

In 2023, demanding that employees come into the office to work has shown to be ineffective at best. Employees miss the social and collaborative opportunities of the office, but constricting floor plans, isolating cubicles, and lackluster common spaces do little to ensure that they’ll find the connection they crave within the four walls of their company’s office.  In response, businesses are adopting thoughtful strategies that include updated designs to accommodate new work needs and rhythms, foster a robust hybrid company culture, and improve worker well-being — while boosting productivit ..read more

First Service, a prominent North American leader in essential property lifestyle services, was facing a pending relocation and expansion. This challenge prompted them to seek out a reliable partner to handle their entire project from design to completion. They turned to Truspace, a renowned design and build firm known for its client-centric approach and commitment to delivering unique solutions tailored to each client’s needs. Heading the project on the client’s end was a busy decision-maker who frequently traveled and had limited bandwidth to deal with the intricacies of a project design and ..read more

As organizations return to in-office work, many are unsure how best to facilitate the transition; not just to in-office work but to providing employees the option to adopt a hybrid model and work remotely part of the time.  With some workers only in the office a few days a week, spaces need to adapt to provide the best possible experience for when workers are present. Luckily, new technology and thoughtful design that specifically target a move to hybrid work structures are flooding the market.  Information abounds on maximizing space and designing to benefit all workers, whether in ..read more

The office has changed a lot over the last 50 years, from cubicle culture to open-plan spaces, rigid structures to agile working. Now we’re seeing the most important shift of all towards hybrid office design. This metamorphosis isn’t just a fashion of the decade; it’s a reflection of deeper societal evolutions. Changes in working preferences, technology, and societal norms have driven this shift. The traditional 9-to-5 routine, with its fixed desks and rigid schedules, has been disrupted by a demand for flexibility, enhanced by technological innovations. The advent of smartphones, cloud comput ..read more

The WealthCo Group of Companies has been elevating accounting firm members and clients for over 20 years. On a mission to change the financial services industry, they leverage the unique relationship between accountants and their clients. Considered an integrated advisory network, they approached Truspace to design and build their new offices with what could be considered two competing priorities: space for people to work and space for people to collaborate. “There’s a lot of collaboration that happens within the teams. So having spaces for people to work as well as to collaborate was really i ..read more

Baker Tilly is a successful professional services firm, providing accounting, tax advisory and wealth management services. In 2022, when Baker Tilly connected with Truspace to design and build out their newly leased 17,000 square foot facility, they were already apprehensive about the process given the large scope of the project, and turning what was previously a single-tenant facility into a multi-office facility. They hadn’t designed or developed a new space in nearly 15 years, and they wondered whether their timeline requirements were achievable. It was important for the space to reflect an ..read more

When System1 encountered challenges locating an existing office to accommodate their collaborative and innovative teams under one roof, they joined forces with Granite Homes and Truspace to consolidate their Guelph-based Qool Media and Concourse Media teams. A Change of Plans The company’s growth and subsequent rebranding called for a larger, unified space. When System1 brought Truspace on board, they persuaded Granite Homes and the brokerage firm to turn their newly proposed, but not yet built, multi-tenant building plans into single-tenant headquarters to best suit the evolving needs of the ..read more

Waygar Capital is an asset-based lender located in the Commerce Court building in the heart of Toronto’s financial district. Their new 6,551 square-foot space was within a legacy building whose design was all classic opulence. However, Waygar wanted their suites to take a more modern, contemporary, and functional approach while still speaking to the elevated aesthetic of a high-net-worth clientele.  In choosing a contractor for the build-out, Waygar prioritized finding one that could provide them with a turnkey solution. Their timelines were short, the budget was locked, and they needed t ..read more