What: Telus’s Ontario headquarters Where: 21 out of 30 floors of the Telus House at 25 York Street How big: 460,000 square feet for approximately 2,000 employees
Employees at Telus are pretty spoiled. They work in a futuristic skyscraper with everything they could possibly need—including a gym, on-site physiotherapists, restaurant-calibre kitchens, peaceful rooftop gardens and fancy event spaces—all under one roof. Plus, the tower links up to the PATH, so come winter, they never even have to go outside. Floors 18 to 30 are mostly filled with workspaces, but floors three, four and five are dedicated to communal wellness, entertainment and innovation centres. The latter is for showing off the company’s cool new technologies, like 3D printers and cloud-like software designed to digitize medical records and help update the country’s healthcare system.
Guests are greeted by a sleek lobby and lounge that looks like it belongs in a luxury hotel. The office was designed by Kasian Architecture Interior Design and Planning, in collaboration with Figure 3:
The Innovation Centre’s meeting room has windows that frost on demand for extra privacy, and LED lights for ambiance:
The Wellness Centre has four treatment rooms for physiotherapy or massage, a quiet area and an on-site doctor:
The gym is well-equipped with treadmills, stationary bikes, weight-lifting machines and a separate studio for yoga, pilates and other group classes:
The environmentally friendly, LEED gold–certified tower has multiple green roofs. This one, off the Wellness Centre, is covered in wild grasses:
Lettuce grows here, too, though its purposes are purely ecological:
The Entertainment Centre, which is used for corporate events and offered to Telus’s charity partners, has a full-service bar with a well-stocked wine collection:
Employees can eat lunch overlooking nearby buildings on another lush rooftop patio:
There are basic kitchens on each floor, plus a much fancier communal kitchen for larger team meals:
This comfy lounge area is next to one of the communal kitchens. It’s perfect for for watching sports:
Each department gets free reign over how they organize their space. Some have more of a corporate feel, but Telus’s digital department prefers a playful, startup-like environment:
The building’s lights have automatic dimmers, which helps save big on energy:
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