Custom-Fit Motorized Shades Enhances the Architectural Design of the Glass Box Tower 

Altex, Canada's leader in window covering and a valued Québec partner for architects and designers, unveils the fruits of an exceptional collaboration with Westport Manufacturing for the Deloitte Summit Tower, one of the four largest audit and consulting firms in the world. Altex's 2,000 custom-designed shades represent its largest motorized window covering project of this kind in North America.

Photo credit: Deloitte Summit project

The 24-storey building is made up of several four-storey glass cubes, arranged around a central concrete core. One of the major challenges of the project is the installation of several large motorized shades. We will work closely with our client to ensure the project runs smoothly.

- Laurent Alepins, head of the architectural team at Altex

With its expertise in window covering, Altex has established itself in the major architectural project deployed in Vancouver. This project boasts a remarkable diversity of different views of Vancouver and its natural surroundings beautifully framed by the design of the windows, which are oriented both vertically and horizontally.

Photo credit: Deloitte Summit project

Designed by the architectural firm Merrick Architecture, and Tokyo-based OSO, Deloitte Summit Tower's form is inspired by the shape of a Japanese lantern, and conceived as a playful aggregation of “reflective” yet transparent stacked boxes. The 24-story office tower features glass floors with city skyline views, rooftop terraces sheltered by the tiers above, and vertical gardens framing breathtaking mountain views. Altex's motorized shades allow absolute control over the building's many glass spaces, designed to both reflect nature and honor its environment. The motors that will equip the Altex shades come from the French giant Somfy, the world's largest motor manufacturer in this field, ensuring unparalleled control over the light in each of the spaces.

Photo credit: Deloitte Summit project

About Altex

Altex, a Terrebonne-based company, is a Canadian leader in window covering in the residential, commercial, and architectural sectors. The company positions itself as a valued supplier to architects and designers. Altex sells its products throughout North America and works in partnership with firms from around the world to offer the best quality fabrics and systems, many of which are patented and exclusive.

About the Deloitte Summit Project

Deloitte Summit is a 24-storey office tower made up of several clusters of four-storey steel-framed cubes arranged around a central concrete core. The office will feature glass floors overlooking the city, roof terraces under overhanging volumes, vertical gardens framing views of the mountains, and the largest rooftop amenity in Vancouver. It appears as a piece of sculpture that reflects and expands upon its surrounding context while bringing nature back into the urban environment.

The character of the workspace at Deloitte Summit is designed to be open, fluid, flexible, but also diverse. This new, creative work environment elicits collaboration, creativity, and spontaneity. The boxes create natural compartments within a continuous floor plate, allowing offices to be variously partitioned while also staying close to the façade. The floors and ceilings of the cantilevering portions are glazed to visually link the garden, the offices, and the street below. The resulting diversity of spaces is complemented by the diversity of views, whose orientation is not only horizontal but also vertical. The project is scheduled for completion in 2021.

Photo credit: Deloitte Summit project