Anson Funds’ Toronto office brings a remarkable industrial sensibility to a 7,090-square-foot, high-pressure financial workplace. Designed by Figure3, the interior combines brick, hot-rolled steel, and natural light to give the space a distinctive professional character.
Anson Funds is a privately held alternative asset management firm established in 2003 and headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, with an additional office in Dallas, Texas.
The Toronto workplace was designed following the company’s relocation to 181 Bay Street. Figure3 worked with the existing office geometry, using its angles and varying ceiling heights to organize the floor plan and distinguish the client-facing and staff areas.
Making the Layout Work With the Existing Architecture
The office’s existing angles were incorporated into the planning strategy, ultimately shaping the arrangement of spaces and giving the floor plan a less rigid configuration.
The workplace’s varied ceiling heights added another layer of definition to the layout. Its combination of low and high ceilings was maintained to establish a division between the front and back of the office, with a lowered-ceiling portal serving as the architectural marker between the client and staff areas.
By building on the office’s established architecture, Anson Funds was able to give each portion of the workspace its own unique spatial qualities.
The Portal Creates a Change in Scale
The lowered-ceiling portal is one of the key features of the design and creates a distinct transition point in the office. Passing beneath the lower section leads into the staff area, where the ceiling rises, and the space opens up.
The change is particularly noticeable as it occurs within a short distance of entering the office, just past the client section. The compressed portal gives way to a taller space occupied by open workstation desking, creating a clear shift in scale.
