Bathed in natural light, the City of Hamilton’s 100 King Street offices were designed as flexible workspaces that encourage collaboration. The 84,000 SF, $7.5 million renovation, accommodating 500 of the City’s staff, is spread over 5 floors of the Stelco building located in the heart of Hamilton. With beautiful, 360 views of the city, this office space was designed to transition employees to a more open-concept working area with an increased number of flex spaces. A collaborative environment was the key in this space – as was improving employee wellness through the design of nicer lunchrooms and quiet spaces.

Employees and visitors to the floors will be met by updated elevator lobbies. Reception areas on the second and tenth floors welcome City guests in a way adapted to covid-19 with appropriate shielding between guests and reception staff. Walking through the doors on any level of the building will bring you into a bright working space complete with meeting rooms, boardrooms, breakout areas and a lunchroom. The natural light in conjunction with the clean, modern interior highlights the natural materials used in the space. Despite the open-concept nature of this workplace, a level of privacy is maintained through strategically placed sound booths for private conversations and acoustic paneling. These acoustic paneling are placed around the office as dropped ceilings, wall treatments and wall panels. Large collaboration areas are adaptable with adjustable desks, mobile furniture and partition walls to adjust to the users’ needs. With 360 views of the City of Hamilton, the office space offers a light-filled space throughout the day for all office users no matter their location.    

Our integrated, multi-disciplinary team worked closely with City Project Managers to ensure the end result best utilized the space and made it as functional as possible for City staff. An important part of this process was understanding their previous office environment, what worked and what could be improved or modernized. A set of individual interviews between the City’s project manager, mcCallumSather representatives and department heads helped to understand their vision. These interviews pinpointed what each department needed, how frequently certain areas of the office would be in use, and the ideal location for certain teams and resources. 

The design response included a healthy balance of meeting rooms, space for future growth, and security at key entry points of service for City guests and staff alike. 

The design integrates certain elements aligned with the landlord’s standards. Certain areas were left in their original state such as the stair core and additional transition spaces. Areas such as the elevator lobbies and washrooms were updated with finishes to match the rest of the building. This maintained a consistent aesthetic and connection between the floors and the rest of the building. This design required the careful consideration of transitions between finishes dictated by the landlord with the integration between the contemporary design of the rest of the office. 

Due to the open-concept design of the office, acoustic performance of the facility was of utmost importance.  Acoustic paneling was strategically placed throughout the office on meeting room and break out room walls, collaborative area drop ceilings and vertical panels. These panels are made of PET- a material made of recycled water bottles with high durability.