commercial design OFFICE SPACES Post-pandemic design workplace design

Translating a design framework into a functional workspace

• Bryan Wiens May 24, 2022
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The LWG design team continues to leverage the Federal Government's GC Workplace framework to create beautiful and responsive work environments. This latest project, designed for the Translation Bureau, fully embraces these standards of workplace modernization, flexibility and agility, resulting in a destination space to draw people back to the office while supporting hybrid work, and ultimately the challenging work undertaken by translators.

Interior Designer: Bryan Wiens, ARIDO

Design Firm: LWG Architectural Interiors

Photographer: Kevin Belanger

It was important to provide the employees with flexible workspaces that would allow them to move about freely depending on their needs, whether it is meetings and collaboration, or individual work. The translation work is both intense and demanding, so providing key support spaces, such as comfortable and inviting lounge areas as well as private sleep rooms, was critical.

This office interior features the first use of tunable Lutron Ketra lighting in Ottawa - utilized in the sleep rooms to allow users to tune the lighting to suit their individual level of comfort.

To create an interior that provides a connection to the outdoors, evokes nature, and promotes well-being, biophilic elements have been used throughout the space in a variety of ways including wood panelling, preserved moss and full-wall graphics. This is paired with a restrained use of saturated colours such as warm oranges and calm blues in key areas over three floors of predominantly neutral-coloured office space in downtown Ottawa.