Working within a Mies van der Rohe landmark is both a privilege and a responsibility. When Cadillac Fairview asked us to transform a second-floor management office at Toronto’s Toronto-Dominion Centre, the directive was clear: honor the architecture, stay away from kitschy emulations and create a space that supports today’s workplace culture. The office needed to serve dual purposes — a functional workplace for staff and a working showroom for prospective tenants.
Our approach began with obvious, no-nonsense planning. The tower’s five-foot grid became the framework for alignment and proportion, ensuring that new interventions were integral to the building’s right angles. Offices were located inward, facing windows, so open work areas could benefit from natural light and views. Workstations and private offices were planned on the building’s grid (or half of it), ensuring efficiency. Aside from one exception, private offices were equal in size, reinforcing equity and minimizing hierarchy within the workplace.
Flexibility and wellness guided the plan. A folding glass partition allows reception and boardroom to merge into one contiguous event space, supported by mobile tables for quick reconfiguration. An “exit room,” modest in scale and naturally lit, provides a private, emotionally neutral setting for delicate conversations, or a future meeting treadmill use. At the heart of the plan, a living wall adds more than biophilia. Fully irrigated and tied into café plumbing, it has become a social landmark, sparking playful rituals of staff “talking to the plants.” These details show how workplace design can shape daily culture in subtle but lasting ways.
The project required careful engineering interventions. The second-floor location introduced challenges such as the need for pumped drainage, which were resolved through systems-aware planning that kept infrastructure discreet. Expansion zones to the north and south allow the office to evolve without disrupting its coherence, while LEED Silver certification is being pursued through efficient planning, low-VOC finishes and light harvesting, to name a few features. For prospective tenants touring the office, the design now acts as proof of concept that environmental performance and design elegance are not mutually exclusive.
If the office represents CF’s management culture, The Interchange represents its investment in wellness and community. This secure, amenity-rich commuter facility reimagines a concourse passage and section of the underground parking as a seamless journey from arrival to readiness.
Direct access from the street and parking were important concerns. To address the complexities of arrival, we engaged an Active Transportation Engineering consultant, an uncommon but vital step that reshaped curbs, traffic flow and signage within the garage. The result is a safe, legible path that welcomes tenants well before they reach the facility.
Inside, we believe, the space mirrors equity and inclusiveness. Locker rooms for men and women are identical in scale and amenity, supported by a generous universal washroom with its own shower and change table. Showers and changerooms were designed as hospitality environments, finished with a balance of warm natural materials and practical ones. They extend the vocabulary of the corporate complex above. Adaptive bicycle racks, towel service, filtered water, ironing stations and privacy hoods anticipate diverse user needs, transforming utilitarian expectations into experiences of care.
At the concourse level, The Interchange extends into the public realm with a mural designed in collaboration with Strange Colour and fabricated by Eventscape. Spanning 45 feet of Santos Rosewood panels, it incorporates 2,792 solid brass standoffs, each brushed and angled to catch light. Arranged in a wave-like geometry, they evoke movement, crossing and the patterns of bicycle treads.
The mural signals the presence of The Interchange while enriching Toronto’s PATH with a crafted visual landmark. Though not formally designated as public art, it was delivered with the same white-glove attention as a commissioned piece, underscoring IN8’s commitment to craft. Strategic lighting highlights the brushed brass, amplifying the sense of motion and ensuring the wall stands as a permanent architectural surface, never to be diminished by posters or utilitarian finishes.
Taken together, these projects illustrate the breadth of design thinking required to support Cadillac Fairview’s vision at the TD Centre. The office demonstrates how heritage modernism can evolve into a flexible, equitable workplace. The Interchange shows how wellness can be embedded into the commuter journey. And the mural elevates the public face of the project into an enduring civic gesture.
For us, the lesson is clear: design integrity, human care and technical engineering are not separate values. They converge, shaping environments that are both respectful of legacy and responsive to the future.
Editor’s Note: Michael Arcand and Don Parker are principals at Ray. Arcand and Parker recently joined Ray but completed the project through IN8.
