Trish Clarry is only half joking when she says people who've toured the new Telus office tower in downtown Toronto usually want to hand her their résumés. A few minutes walk to public transit, spectacular city views and on-site massage therapy make it an appealing place to spend the workweek.
The 30-story glass tower, at 25 York Street, has a lot of pizzazz. But it's pizzazz with a purpose. The building was carefully and strategically crafted to communicate the Telus brand to corporate and institutional clients. It's also meant to attract talented people. Think of this office building as a very large human resources recruitment and retention tool.
Ms. Clarry's responsibilities reflect this marriage of corporate real estate and human resources strategy. As executive director, real estate and enterprise services, she oversees corporate real estate, human resources and the Telus national health and wellness program.
It's all about valuing an employee's contribution, Ms. Clarry explains. "A more engaged employee is a more productive employee, and that's really what we're trying to create."
The Telus building - the last of three new office towers to come on stream in Toronto this year - was designed to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) core and shell gold standards. And while construction is mostly complete, the interior still needs finishing touches; furniture will be delivered and many of the key public areas will be decorated with the signature flora and fauna of Telus's brand images. Employees are just starting to move in, and by the end of April, the Vancouver-based telecommunications giant will have consolidated 1,600 people from 15 offices across the Greater Toronto Area.
The main lobby will see heavy pedestrian traffic as 25 York will be connected to Toronto's PATH labyrinth of sheltered and underground walkways.
Telus has signed a 15-year lease for about 450,000 square feet with landlord Menkes Union Tower Ltd., a joint venture partnership between Menkes Developments Ltd., Hospitals of Ontario Pension Plan and Halcyon Real Estate Partners Fund. Other tenants in the building include Kinross Gold Corp., ACE INA Insurance and the Society of Management Accountants of Ontario. The building is 85 per cent leased.
Joe Nestic, senior vice-president of Menkes Developments, says that, back in 2005 before responding to Telus's proposal for new office space, it interviewed corporate tenants, architects and engineers about the future of office building design. "We asked them, 'What do you want?' and then came up with a Top 10 list," Mr. Nestic says. "It was all tenant-focused. It had nothing to do with development."
One of the biggest drivers behind new office building design is human comfort, explains Dermot Sweeny, whose firm, Sweeny Sterling Finlayson & Co. Architects Inc., worked with lead architect Adamson Associates Architects.
At 25 York Street, human comfort translates into features such as 11-foot, floor-to-ceiling glass windows that offer better access to natural light, and individual workstation airflow and temperature controls. There is also a Telus Wellness Centre featuring an aerobics studio, and massage and physiotherapy treatment rooms. A gourmet kitchen on the "Team Telus" floor is where staff will participate in team-building sessions and nutrition classes. An adjacent relaxation space features a fireplace and comfy chairs, and a walk-out to a spacious outdoor patio. Some of the roof spaces will be greened with plants, and an herb garden will supply the team kitchen.
Even the elevators are designed to make people feel good: 10-foot-high cab ceilings (compared with seven- to nine-foot heights in older buildings) make people feel more comfortable, Mr. Nestic says. The elevators are programmed to reduce annoying wait times and to save electricity.
Highly mobile staff, armed with smart phones and laptops, have the option of working at home as well as almost anywhere in the building. "We really try to create very experiential spaces for our team members. When they come to the office we want them to engage with their teammates ... have fun and really engage with the Telus brand," Ms. Clarry explains.
