An inside look at Coca-Cola’s brand new King Street East headquarters

With its terrazzo floors and 1960s decor, Coca-Cola Canada’s old building in East York had an undeniable retro appeal. However, the workspaces were short on natural light and meeting space, and were saddled with too many dividing walls—the antithesis of today’s open-concept office culture. After consulting with employees, the company decided to build a new space in a transit-accessible downtown neighbourhood. The result: a three-storey addition to the top of the Toronto Sun building on King East, which employees moved into this week. The airy new office is full of light (as well as Coke-themed art), and has a grand central atrium featuring the kind of massive television screen normally reserved for stadiums. Come summer, Coca-Cola’s 400 employees will also be able to relax on an outdoor patio. As you’d expect from the world’s most famous soda maker, the cafeteria boasts a Freestyle Machine, which instantly makes over 100 different drinks for free—though the vending machines elsewhere in the office still charge a loonie per can.