ARGO Development Corp. (ARGO) has opened a new 16,000-square-foot headquarters with the polish of a high-end hotel and the craft of a custom residence. With architecture by Q4 Architects (Q4A) and interiors by Jane Lockhart Design (JLD), the building is centred around a double-height gathering space where employees collaborate, share daily lunches and partake in after-work social events. By moving across the street from its former office, ARGO more than doubled its space without uprooting the team. The location was a deliberate choice. Rather than asking employees to reorganize their lives around a new address, ARGO brought top-tier office quality to the community they were already part of.
The result is a design rarely seen in a suburban workplace: a “Social Hub” common area that rises 20 feet and is planted with full-size live non-deciduous trees sourced from Florida, a façade of custom aluminum fins tuned to the sun, and a front of house finished in stone, white oak and walnut. Each design choice reflects the company’s collaborative, family-style culture.
ARGO wanted an office that created opportunities for connection, not one that siloed staff in segregated departments. Jane Lockhart Design planned the floor like a town. Carpeted “districts” of workstations and offices are linked by wood-floored “streets” lined with arched streetlights and moss walls patterned on the topography of two ARGO developments, all leading back to the Social Hub.
Each district offers a different way to work. Spacious sit-stand workstations allow for clear sightlines and views to the vast floor-to-ceiling windows. Collaboration lounges on both sides of the floor face living walls. Privacy cubes for personal calls, and carpeted focus rooms offer space for quiet concentration. Ceiling heights shift too, from tall volumes under clerestories to lower, quieter rooms.
ARGO wanted a building that let in abundant daylight, but the site’s orientation made that challenging. Over the course of a workday, the sun does a full rotation around the building. Q4A responded by cladding portions of the façade with custom vertical aluminum fins, calibrated through sunlight simulations to reduce glare inside the building while providing the benefits of natural light. Where the roofline steps, sawtooth clerestories draw daylight deep into the floor plate. At the Social Hub, the fins give way entirely, and the trees take over the work of shading.
The reception area feels like a high-end hotel lobby or a large custom residence, and JLD carried the detailing to that standard, a quality ARGO’s homebuilder clients would recognize at once. The boardroom anteroom features a floating built-in seat, nature-inspired artwork, and organic glass lighting designed by an Italian artist, creating a boutique experience for visitors.
The boardroom is crowned by a wood ceiling with varied joints, held by a metal structure that recalls the construction of ancient ships: the design team’s reading of the Argo in Greek mythology. The room features a 26-foot-long veneered table and a concealed catering kitchen for extended meetings. The interiors prioritize Canadian materials, including Longboard for the entry canopy and tall ceilings, chosen for their tactility and durability.
Design:
General Contractor: Harrington and Associates Ltd.
Photography:
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