Workspace of the Month: Inside Cassels’s Bright New Office Space

For 35 years, Toronto-based law firm Cassels Brock & Blackwell was housed in a 10,000-square-metre office in Toronto’s financial district. Like many 1980s-era workplaces, it had long corridors, compact cubicles, status-affirming corner offices and a deficit of natural light—functional but not exactly a place where anyone would want to spend 40-plus hours a week. In 2019, the firm was growing its workforce and needed a bigger space, so its leaders decided to relocate to a 12,500-square-metre office in the Bay Adelaide Centre’s north tower, just across the street. The design and building process, which was helmed by architecture firm Gensler, started in early 2021 and took a year and a half. In April 2023, Cassels officially moved house.

“We wanted to create a space that would entice people to come back to the office,” says Kristin Taylor, managing partner, who was heavily involved in the design process. Back during Covid, after a virtual quarterly town hall, an employee who was working in the old office told Taylor that the space’s dark, closed-off layout—as well as the absence of colleagues and the general gloom of the pandemic— was seriously affecting his mood and morale. That conversation inspired the core of the new design, which would centre on the “right to light”—an approach that makes sure everyone has ample access to natural light, whether they’re a partner or a paralegal.

Dim corridors and closed-off cubicles went the way of dial-up internet; the new design standardized the size of offices, moved them away from the building’s perimeter and scrapped drywall for glass, allowing natural light to penetrate into the interior. It embraced an open floor plan, reducing the number of walls and cutting the height of cubicle dividers in half, which makes for a more convivial and collaborative environment.

The design also prioritized communal space. The firm introduced self-serve café lounges—stocked with Balzac’s and Pilot coffee and Numi tea—on each of the office’s five floors. These function as informal meeting spaces and include banquettes, cushioned chairs and small tables. Boardrooms now look like high-end lounges, complete with plush, cozy armchairs and couches. There’s also a 185-square-metre wellness centre that includes yoga and meditation spaces and a Peloton room.

For Taylor and the design team, thoughtfully accommodating employees’ varying needs and life stages was a key part of the project. There are dedicated spaces for religious observance, a family room with activities for children and a room for pumping and breastfeeding. “There’s a new sense of warmth and communality and a degree of informality,” says Taylor. “After the pandemic, it became clear that people weren’t necessarily eager to get back to the traditional ways of an office. There’s been a shift in the culture. People are starting to recognize that how formally one is dressed or how austere their office looks does not necessarily equate to higher-quality work. We wanted to embrace that.”

Earth tones, light-oak finishes, pops of greenery and, of course, natural light make the office feel spacious and inviting. Some of the best views—including a verdant northeast vista—were strategically allocated to shared spaces instead of being reserved for high-ranking executives. But the democratization of light and space wasn’t the only pandemic-inspired change. The firm’s new hybrid- work model—employees are in the office a few days a week—is part of the design, which includes robustly equipped rooms for virtual hearings and software that lets employees securely connect to their workspaces.

Compared to the 12 months of hybrid work before moving into Bay Adelaide, there has been a definite uptick in attendance. Taylor says that feedback has been near-universally positive. One partner wasn’t happy with his reduced office size but became a convert within the first week. After spending time in the space, he saw the benefit of the light-friendly environment that had been created.

The move increased the office’s size by 25 per cent and gave workers inspiring new spaces in which to gather and collaborate. But that’s not all—the new design is emblematic of a broader cultural and operational shift at Cassels that champions a key idea: An office should not only accommodate the technical aspects of work but also foster an environment where employees feel valued, supported and connected.

Here’s a look inside Cassels’s new office space: