Scope: Interiors

Building Area: 120,000 sf

Photos: Ema Peter

Founded on lululemon’s core principles of health, wellness, flexibility, and authenticity, the Drake Store Support Centre enables new ways of working post-pandemic. To gain insight into current workstyles, space needs, pain points, and the future aspirations of each department, CWa conducted a deep dive with the lululemon team. With the information gained, we developed standard guidelines for meeting room designs and ratios, flexible neighborhood designs, allowing for growth and easy reconfigurations, and specialty space requirements for more unique needs, providing the teams with bespoke environments to support their unique ways of working, while also allowing for exceptional long-term flexibility and resiliency.

On the main entry floor, visitors are greeted at an elegant wood-clad reception area, leading to an all-inclusive executive boardroom suite, a yoga studio with terrace views, and a large multipurpose space. On upper floors, social zones with pantries and lush seating areas spill over into adjacent collaboration spaces. To promote vertical movement through the building, we developed unique destination amenities, creating a sense of belonging and discovery. Scattered throughout the stack are a small market, a games room, a tech bar, and specialty meeting rooms. The warm neutral palette calms and elevates the space, while ample greenery and natural materials maintain a connection to the natural world. Natural light pours through full-height perimeter glazing, giving stunning views across the city to the mountains beyond.

As the first major lululemon workplace to open post-pandemic, the Drake Store Support Centre is in the unique position of being both an exciting driver in the return-to-office program, and a testing ground for novel hybrid work. It is a living and breathing reflection of lululemon’s principles and a benchmark for the post-pandemic workplace.