As Canada’s top litigation firm, Lenczner Slaght needed an office that not only inspires trust, but one that expresses the seriousness of its work as well. Our team transformed the practice’s once-dated reception level into a series of timeless spaces, defined by a palette of calming natural materials including cherry, walnut, and Eramosa limestone.

The reconfigured floor plan replaces a boardroom wall with a folding partition that glides into the ceiling, allowing the sun to wash through the southwest windows and into the reception lobby. At the heart of the space, a glass, steel and wood staircase boasts a sculptural feature wall that rises up from the level below, soaring over 40 feet high. Custom-crafted from warm walnut, the wall is an intriguing assembly of vertical wooden fins in two wave-like shapes, one soft and rounded, the other sharper and more angular. Integrated LED uplighting amplifies the shadow play between the fins, which seem to shift and change as you move toward and past this dynamic plane.

To ensure the staircase grabs the eye, a striking series of blown-glass suspension lights cascades through all three levels. In stark contrast to the meticulous contours of the walnut fins, the lamps – from Vancouver designer Omer Arbel’s Bocci label – are formed in folds of ceramic fabric to create an amorphous shape. Each lamp is one of a kind, much like the space they now adorn.