Slack Offices – Vancouver
Leckie Studio has designed the new offices of software company Slack, located in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Award-winning communications-based software company Slack located its multi-level headquarters in Yaletown, at 1028 Hamilton. The Slack Headquarters re-imagines the industrial space with sleek and modern detail. The new offices retain the heritage character of the building by integrating the exposed brick, original wooden beams, and mechanical infrastructure into the design. The steel separating walls are coated with a matte gunmetal lacquer.
The large bay windows on both levels give plenty of natural light to the industrial building. The windows throughout the office are framed in black, which softens the light and elegantly anchors the space. The primary meeting rooms on the second floor, which are adjacent to the second floor bay windows, are transparent so that the street is visible throughout the office. Additional daylight is subtly filtered through the many skylights in the working area, as well as the cafe, reception, and atrium.
The second level of the Slack headquarters encourages flexibility in the use of space, with modular office design and open-concept communal areas. Mobile meeting rooms can be rolled around the office, encouraging break-out groups, play, or just some extra privacy. Elsewhere in the Slack offices, Skype meetings and phone calls can be held in semi-private cubbies, like vintage phone booths, with sliding glass doors. An atrium seating area and stairwell that connects the main level with a small lounge overlooking Hamilton Street.
The concept of an ‘interior nature’ is explored with the mossy wall, located at the heart of the headquarters. Overhanging this space is sculptural pendant lighting by designers Stephanie Forsythe and Todd MacAllen. The organic shapes, suspended in the high space between upper and lower levels like floating clouds or tree mushrooms, connect working and social space.
Design: Leckie Studio
Photography: Ema Peter