Weston

Outside-the-Box Thinking Reimagines a Retail Giant’s HQ as an Art Gallery

The commission to design a lobby at George Weston Ltd.’s Toronto headquarters came to Bartlett & Associates via competition. Seizing an opportunity for outside-the-box thinking, we proposed cutting into the building’s slab to open up a double-height space – a significant reception area to announce a significant company. The idea was so well received that the project quickly grew to include a boardroom, a staff café, work areas and a new three-storey stair, all replete with custom-designed details.

The Weston group owns an incredible art collection that any museum would envy and the project became a showcase for many of these awe-inspiring pieces, including a series of works by Christo and Jeanne-Claude. In the lobby, massive pale wood panels serve as a quiet backdrop for large-scale canvases. A custom desk stretches below. B|A also designed the horizontal pendant lamps that light the space from high above.

The blonde wood is carried through the project’s many bespoke features, including handrails, doors, workstation partitions and the boardroom table. The latter feature shares space with a trio of artworks that may be the project’s most striking. The main conference room was built with recessed alcoves at either side to accommodate these three-dimensional pieces, which merge canvas and sculpture, in much the same way this space merges art and design.