Located in a refurbished early 20th century building, the design combines the building’s original features with a distinctive Scandinavian aesthetic. The existing red brick parti wall was carefully restored and exposed, providing a muted contrast to the new sustainably sourced, light maple wood flooring. The original small window openings that characterized buildings of the early 1900’s were enlarged/expanded to allow light to flood the space and provide views and connection to the outside.
Lokaal’s facilities include a shared workspace, private offices, collaboration space, meeting room, phone booth, lounge, and generous kitchen, and are organized in such a way as to accommodate a variety of work styles ranging from collaborative to focused. The primary work area was designed for programmatic flexibility. An open plan which combines a fixed desk setup around the outside perimeter walls and flexible hot desk worskstations that can be moved to effectively extend the lounge area or to accommodate events.
While the crisp white walls and charcoal grey door frames and partitions introduce a bolder graphic quality, brightly coloured light fixtures and graphics introduce a playfulness to the space without overwhelming. The chalkwall in the collaboration space allows members to express their artistic talents, leave messages or simply serve a place to brainstorm ideas. Custom-designed pieces by local artisans were commissioned including a custom felt light fixture and textural felt entry wall by Kathryn Walter of Felt Studio. Local millworkers were engaged to build the custom desks, 14ft window bench and cubby lockers.
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