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Teknion is a great Canadian success story. The international designer, manufacturer, and marketer of high-end office furniture systems was established in 1981, began trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange in 1998 and now employs 4,200 people worldwide. It seemed fitting, therefore, that the addition to its existing headquarters building should pay tribute to Canada, the country that nurtured the entrepreneurial and visionary spirit of the Feldberg family.

The water, rock, and natural resources which characterize the Canadian landscape provided the inspiration for the exterior of the 57,660-square-foot addition. A block of smooth limestone, tapering towards its base, punctuates the south-west corner and then gives way to a curving glass wall that suggests the sinuous flow of a river. A cantilevered copper-clad canopy slices through a glazed wall to create a new entrance into the building. Seemingly supported by a single slab of rock, the wedge-shaped canopy appears to defy gravity.

One of the architectural challenges was to create a sense of Canada's wide open spaces within the confines of a relatively small site. Inside, a three-storey atrium, which provides the link between new and old, runs the full length of the building and visually connects the upper levels on both sides. This strategy effectively expands the sense of space. Skylights flood the atrium with natural light and animate the space, particularly in the late afternoon.

In the atrium, skewed limestone walls continue the reference to the Canadian landscape. But the limestone takes a back seat to steel. In recognition of one of Canada's major industries, curling ribbons of brushed steel sweep through the atrium, providing a balustrade at the edge of the second level. A cantilevered steel stair with a simple steel handrail rises through the atrium.

The building's curving forms portray the dynamic energy that has set this Canadian company on the international stage. But the inspiration for the sweeping curves was found closer to home: in the shape of that quintessentially Canadian symbol - the canoe.

Link:
+ Teknion Corporate Site