Workplace that Reboot beyond Hip Design

Leading Canadian ad agency Cossette and its parent corporation Plus Company formulated an ambitious agenda for change: to reunite its Montreal workforce in a single downtown campus and attract remote workers back to the office. Cossette invited LAAB architecture to reboot its workplace to go beyond hip design features and the ubiquitous foosball.

Arrival sequence in reception area
Photo credit: Raphael Thibodeau

View of recording studio entrance
Photo credit: Raphael Thibodeau

The Mirror Silos internalizing and amplifying its urban surroundings
Photo credit: Raphael Thibodeau

Their common goal became to model the new workplace around the staff experience and the shared culture, rather than strictly from upper management’s perspective. The new layout flowed naturally from this stance. The spaces were organized around the requisites of their creative vocation, and the thrust was to provide a superior level of functionality to enhance the creative flow of the teams.

Mirror Silos responding to Silo no5 at the end of McGill, in the Old Port
Photo credit: Raphael Thibodeau

Close-up view of reception area and desk
Photo credit: Raphael Thibodeau

View of reception area with main circulation spine
Photo credit: Raphael Thibodeau & LAAB

The previously siloed workplace pods were opened along the exterior wall to promote informal travel between the teams, and to provide greater access to views and light. Another driver was to propose a wide selection of meeting room configurations, from 2 to 20 seats, in a dizzying array of configurations for quiet conversations, focused work, brainstorming sessions, and collaborative work. To break with the typical corporate office look, the design brief drew inspiration from hospitality and wellness destinations; to materialize the vision, LAAB proposed a surprisingly hushed lighting scheme with a dramatic and darker palette that channels a distinctive lounge vibe.

Elevation view of reception
Photo credit: Raphael Thibodeau & LAAB

Detail view of reception desk
Photo credit: Raphael Thibodeau

View towards Bistro-Park and lounge bar
Photo credit: Raphael Thibodeau

Upon arrival, the reception desk is a true signature piece, wrapped with a mysterious dichroic and mirror envelope, lending it a mutable coloration shifting with the viewer’s position; in true brandscaping form, it is a subtle nod to Plus Company’s multicolored logo, its inclusive culture, and its nuances of creative services.

Elevation view of lounge bar and chandelier
Photo credit: Raphael Thibodeau & LAAB

Global View of Bistro-Park towards Lounge Bar
Photo credit: Raphael Thibodeau

Elevation view of Bistro-Park seating alcoves
Photo credit: Raphael Thibodeau

At the south corner of the floor, the bistro emerged as the hub of workplace culture: a social condenser, meeting place, and relaxed work area. It was given the choicest location with a breathtaking view of downtown Square Victoria; it was aptly renamed the Bistro-Park for this reason. Situated at the crossroads of circulations, the recording studio hub emerged as a must-see destination for clients, with its varied hues of studios ranging from white to charcoal, and its brightly lit portals (to signal On-Air status). Lastly, the award-winning Club Cossette office pop-up installation was relocated along the visual axis of McGill, its curved mirrors magnifying the city’s kinetic movement and evoking the Silo no5 in the background.

View of lounge bar and alcove seating in Bistro-Park
Photo credit: Raphael Thibodeau

Axial view from Bistro-Park towards main circulation
Photo credit: Raphael Thibodeau

View of typical workplace pod featuring view towards Suqare-Victoria
Photo credit: Raphael Thibodeau

Despite modeling multiple back-to-work scenarios with occupancy predictions, the business outcome is wildly beyond expectations, as staff returned to the office in droves and turnout has skyrocketed. The results have been so astounding that the main operational issue has become meeting room overbooking and a lack of seating in the Bistro-Park.

View of typical workplace pod
Photo credit: Raphael Thibodeau

Ensemble view of the recording studio's foyer
Photo credit: Raphael Thibodeau

Axial view of recording studios' foyer
Photo credit: Raphael Thibodeau

View of IT service counter
Photo credit: Raphael Thibodeau

The Mirror Silos in the main circulation axis magnifying the urban environment
Photo credit: Raphael Thibodeau

As for the design itself, the result is a mesmerizing space that almost inebriates its visitors with a rich promenade, visual stimulation, and a tangible creative ambiance. The Plus Company Campus is proof of concept that great office design can create great business outcomes and defy most back-to-the-office trends.

LAAB architecture

Founded in 2020 by creative leader Michel Lauzon, LAAB is an award-winning architecture firm advocating a rethink of urban and interior architecture services, to deliver original, high-impact real estate solutions. Its innovative STRATEGIC DESIGN toolkit combines strategic consulting, architectural design, and creative thinking, applied to built environments. This unique service offering leverages an agile problem-solving design process, perfected to tame the most wicked real estate challenges and unleash every project’s potential for greatness.