Great Offices: Sid Lee’s lofty space inside a Distillery District landmark

The Montreal-based agency first opened its Toronto office two years ago with a team of eight employees. To give the firm room to expand, management chose a cavernous space on the top floor of the Stone Distillery building. The first major purchase for their new digs: a top-of-the-line sound system, the size of which impressed even the technician who installed it. Playing indie music from employees’ iPods throughout the day—or, for those working late, blasting whatever they liked—helped to fill the space. The staff complement has since expanded to 43, enough to fill the original office, plus additions across the hall and on the second floor, but both the informal vibe and the music remain. Communal refectory tables and giant bean bag chairs form the office’s central spine and are constantly in use for brainstorms, meetings and weekly pizza lunches.