West Coast home builders catering to Asian-Canadian markets are familiar with the principles of feng shui, the ancient Chinese art of placement. Now it's spreading across the Prairies and having such an impact on the Eastern commercial property market that some prospective clients are turning down office space deemed to have "unharmonious" design.
Tom Grainger, a senior vice-president at the commercial real estate brokerage and consulting firm Devencore Ltd., realized the importance of feng shui after a number of clients rejected available office space based on bad feng shui readings.
"That was the end of it," Mr. Grainger said. "No consideration to the financial aspects, where the deal was at, whether it could be a better deal or not. It was just simply, 'The karma is not right. This space is not going to do. We're moving on.' "
Mr. Grainger hired a feng shui expert to teach his staff the fundamentals so they could speak knowledgeably to clients on the subject. "In my line of business you need to know about it. You need to understand that it is an influencer and that you might have to deal with it in terms of a process. Four or five years ago you didn't come across it," he said.
Feng shui belongs in the realm of either science or snake oil, depending on who you ask. But the practice, widely used by Asian entrepreneurs, is rapidly gaining acceptance across North America. From high-energy high-tech firms to law offices and real estate brokers, entrepreneurs are tapping the wisdom of feng shui masters to create buildings and offices that work in harmony with nature, and possibly give them a competitive edge.
And while harmony is always the goal of residential design, some commercial enterprises have different needs. In designing the Outaouais office of lawyer Francoise Boivin, Ottawa practitioner Virginia Gesmundo used the principles of feng shui to create "conflict energy" in order to attract people experiencing conflict to the office.
"That's the purpose of a lawyer, to attract conflict," Ms. Gesmundo said. "So, although conflict is not good for a jewellery store, for a lawyer, conflict means business. The lawyer's job is to solve the conflict."
The firm's olive and beige décor represents the conflicting energies of earth and wood, and the maroon flecks in the carpet represent fire, a necessary element to resolve that conflict. Glass blocks partition the office and symbolize water. "It not only gives good air and light quality, but it helps the energy," Ms. Gesmundo said.
Feng shui (pronounced "fung shway") literally means "wind" and "water." Energy, known as chi, is carried by the wind and retained by water. So feng shui becomes the study of how to prevent chi being dispersed by wind and how to retain chi with water. It incorporates the ideas of yin and yang,feminine and masculine energies, and the five elements: water, wood, fire, earth and metal.
Although in North America the practice is most often associated with obtaining balance through the arrangement of furniture and objects within one's space, it is actually a complex mathematical system that takes a lifetime to fully understand.
The practice is growing in cities with large ethnic populations, such as Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal, and 93 practitioners are currently registered with the Feng Shui Association of Canada.
Ottawa businessman Hunter Li calculates that 90 per cent of entrepreneurs in his native Hong Kong hire feng shui consultants. So, when he founded TeraMach Technologies Inc. to design, deploy and support data-centric solutions, he made sure the landlord agreed to structural changes prior to signing a contract.
"I had to make a new entrance because the entrance was not facing the right direction," he said. And he chose an office on the second level, facing southeast, an auspicious direction determined by his birth date. He says feng shui incorporates some elements of superstition, but also principles of natural science, resulting in increased light and a vibrant environment. Whatever the cause, TeraMach continues to thrive in a city strewn with high-tech wrecks.
"I wouldn't say it's 100-per-cent feng shui,"Mr. Li said. "Good management also has a lot to do with that. But at the end of the day, in business you need a little bit of luck."
The increased interest from Montreal's business community led Marie-France Dayan to obtain the North American distribution rights for Vital-Office, a line of German-made office furniture that incorporates feng shui principles into the design. She has been asked to speak to the women's chapter of the Montreal Chamber of Commerce, and is designing floor plans for Global Prime Office, a company that rents out furnished offices for temporary use.
"If I look at all the phone calls I'm getting now compared to a few years ago, it's amazing," she said.
As designers, architects and chief executive officers embrace this ancient art, hard edges and small cluttered spaces are giving way to vibrant, airy buildings with soft curves that let the energy flow. Its influence is seen in the circular driveway at the Lombard Glen Golf & Country Club in Lombardy, Ont., in the water fountain emblazoned with gold dragons at the Holiday Inn on St-Urbain Street in Montreal, and in the bathrooms at telecommunications and equipment manufacturer Hyperchip Inc., also in Montreal.
"When we redid the bathrooms we tried to use all the natural elements," said Hyperchip facilities manager Sarah Murphy. "So, one of the bathrooms is wood, one of the bathrooms is glass, one of the bathrooms is metal."
"A lot of people scoff at it," said Hyperchip marketing communications manager Jennifer Goldfinch. "But it's 3,000 years old. It's not new age, new wave, nouveau. It's been around. And it's always worked for us." Selected Feng shui principles
A straight road leading directly to the building or a small stream flowing in a straight course away from it dissipates the good influences.
The front entrance should not face the upstairs stairway.
The front door should not have a view of the back door.
Heavy ceiling beams interfere with chi, or energy.
According to the classic Four Animal formation, the building backdrop (called the Tortoise position) should have something solid for protection, such as a taller building, clumps of trees or rocks. The Dragon position to the east should be higher than that to the west, with neighbouring buildings, trees or rocks higher on the eastern side. The western side, known as the Tiger, should be lower and flatter. The Phoenix position in front of the building should have a boundary marker -- either a low wall or fence, or a sign carrying the company name.
Buildings on triangular plots of land are ill-omened.
Corners of adjacent or opposing buildings, glare from glass buildings, satellite dishes and flag poles pointing at the office are unwelcome.