As of January 30th 2017, our new home is 9135 Keele Street, Unit A1!
I must say, this whole office moving process was a great learning experience for me. I now know how much time and effort it takes to 1) finding a place, 2) designing a space that reflects our company’s culture, and 3) completing the move.
It starts with Trust
In 2014 we decided as a company that our current space was misaligned with our culture and values. For this reason, it was time to find a new home! We met as a team and discussed what we would like in a new space. Collectively we decided that we wanted: an open, collaborative style office, with multiple areas for people to exchange ideas and promote creativity.
Once we knew what we wanted, it was time to find a realtor. This is when we met Daniel Reid from CBRE, who quickly became our trusted advisor on this journey. After a few detailed searches, many, many site visits, and some collaborative brainstorming… we found it, our new home!
Dan, you truly embodied our core values during this time and became a pivotal person in our success. Thank you for your time, knowledge and experience! We could not have done it without you!
Then Innovation
We were the first to occupy office space in this brand new industrial-style building, with high ceilings, exposed beams and most importantly, an empty floor plan. Starting from scratch gave us the opportunity to design our space exactly the way we wanted. In addition to many team meetings, spur of the moment discussions, last minute ideas, what ifs, how about’s, and revisions we finally confirmed our office design and signed our lease!
Also, I must take a moment to thank Kory & Kurt at JD Graphics and Alex from Plant Décor for helping us turn our walls, doors and open space into artistic outlets to show our culture and bring some colour into the office.
It’s amazing what you can do with some open minds and creative ideas!
And finally, Collaboration
Now it was time to finalize all the details that come with moving! What was coming with us? What will Habitat for Humanity take for reuse? and more importantly – how do we do it all with minimal down time?! In my opinion, this is when our company culture really shined. So many team members stepped up and helped pack boxes, disassemble & reassemble furniture, confirmed scheduling, and put in the extra hours needed to complete the move!
A HUGE thank you to everyone that helped us throughout the whole process!
We are all very excited for this new space, and what is to come in the future!
Cheers to the new year and new beginnings,
Colleen
