Conceived as more of a sculpture garden than a workplace, the new Vancouver offices for Serein Properties are crafted by Canadian firm McKinley Studios to express the brand’s inherent innovation in urban development. The design also draws upon the CEO’s artistic, human-centric approach to development to create something truly experiential. “We were inspired by the idea that a workplace can—with a few basic functional requirements—be a completely abstract immersive experience,” says Walker McKinley, architect and founder of McKinley Studios. “A space where everything—furniture, doors, rooms, and dividers—were each imagined as independent sculptural pieces.”
Beyond a mirrored wall concealing a hidden door, the Serein office incites a dialogue of hard and soft spanning 2,400 square feet. The curved glass of the windows inform an experimental layout, with sinewy lines echoed in seating as well as a half-glass and half-wood meeting pod. Edgy but inviting contemporary furniture serves as the anchor of each space, invoking curiosity and comfort to infuse a mood apt for reflection, connection, or inspiration. Pieces composed of limestone, polished aluminum, wood, and leather are installed atop polished concrete floors whose neutrality amplifies bolder elements like the sculptural reception desk outfitted as a cocktail bar—a nod to “the owner’s interests in hosting and mixology,” McKinley adds. Clad with a black mirror on its face, the cubic bar is positioned in entrancing contrast before an articulated wall of figured marble.
Across a medley of commanding focal points, the indisputable centerpiece is a light-responsive sculpture by Shirley Wiebe that hangs like a cloud from the ceiling in the heart of the office. Composed of frosted polycarbonate, hand-etched acrylic rods, and knitted polyethylene bale, the artwork serves as a reminder to think bigger. “In order to strengthen the idea of objects, or sculptures, as planning elements,” McKinley says, “we gave each of them a strong material independence.”
