New Deloitte office stands tall in downtown Vancouver (PHOTOS/VIDEOS)

Feb 9 2023, 9:14 pm

This tower is called “Deloitte Summit” for a good reason.

Deloitte’s new Vancouver corporate offices literally top off the newly completed office tower at the southwest corner of the intersection of West Georgia Street and Homer Street in downtown Vancouver.

The 24-storey office tower is the latest energetic addition to the area next to Library Square, and kitty-corner from Amazon’s The Post redevelopment, which together represent the latest eastward expansions of the Central Business District.

During an interview and tour of the global audit, consulting, and financial firm’s new Vancouver workspaces on Tuesday, Jodi Evans, the BC regional managing partner for Deloitte Canada, told Daily Hive Urbanized that beyond literally being situated on top of the building, the name also gives meaning to the company’s intention to make this space “all about a pinnacle of high performance,” and a gathering place for the community and leaders to collaborate.

The mountain peak and nature-inspired aesthetic are seen everywhere in the space, with the motifs expressed on walls, frosted glass, and selected art, in addition to the purposeful Indigenous art.

deloitte summit vancouver

Deloitte’s Vancouver offices at Deloitte Summit tower. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

deloitte summit vancouver

Deloitte’s Vancouver offices at Deloitte Summit tower. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

deloitte summit vancouver

Deloitte’s Vancouver offices at Deloitte Summit tower. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

Deloitte, the anchor tenant of the building, occupies about 120,000 sq ft of space over the building’s top eight floors. Large exterior logo signage at the top of the tower firmly establish the company’s presence.

Of course, much has changed in the world over the last few years when it comes to office workspaces, but Evans says few changes were needed for the pre-pandemic design concept of the space. “It was already designed for the future of work. It was really planned that way,” she said.

And everyone — even the partners — now book a desk if they are coming into the office for the day or half a day.

deloitte summit vancouver

Deloitte’s Vancouver offices at Deloitte Summit tower. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

deloitte summit vancouver

Deloitte’s Vancouver offices at Deloitte Summit tower. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

deloitte summit vancouver

Deloitte’s Vancouver offices at Deloitte Summit tower. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

deloitte summit vancouver

Deloitte’s Vancouver offices at Deloitte Summit tower. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

Evans says the company currently has about 1,500 staff in British Columbia, with the vast majority, about 1,350 staff, associated with this Vancouver office, which has the highest office space utilization — the rate of workers coming into the office — of any Deloitte office in Canada.

Deloitte’s Vancouver office already had a semi-remote work culture before the pandemic, and while there has been a bit of a drop due to the pandemic, they are not too far away from their pre-pandemic rate. They see an office space utilization of up to 40% on some days, which is close to their pre-pandemic rate of 50% because many of their staff are often off-site with clients.

Just about everything about the space is designed to encourage collaboration and socialization between workers, with flexible, multi-purpose rooms of all sizes — including rooms with retractable dividing walls — and modular furniture and fixtures that can be moved with great ease. There are 18 different types of workspaces and no private offices.

“Because it’s all about collaboration and integration and working together, you should come in when you’re working with people, and not just come in and sit on your laptop to do work. It’s a perfect design for that,” she said.

deloitte summit vancouver

Deloitte’s Vancouver offices at Deloitte Summit tower. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

deloitte summit vancouver

Deloitte’s Vancouver offices at Deloitte Summit tower. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

deloitte summit vancouver

Deloitte’s Vancouver offices at Deloitte Summit tower. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

deloitte summit vancouver

Deloitte’s Vancouver offices at Deloitte Summit tower. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

As well, the space has achieved a high degree of accessibility — above what is required by building codes — through the use of 3D wayfinding signage, touchless door access control, and wheelchair maneuverability considerations, which are particularly optimized by the use of modular furniture. For such considerations, the space has received the stamp of approval from the Rick Hansen Foundation Accessibility Certification.

As for dedicated gathering areas, the office has a main event room that can fit up to hundreds of people when the moveable walls are not retracted.

There is also a unique innovation and team workspace named “The Greenhouse,” with a striking illuminated arched entrance tunnel that “changes your mindset” before you arrive in the space.

deloitte summit vancouver

Deloitte’s Vancouver offices at Deloitte Summit tower. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

deloitte summit vancouver

Deloitte’s Vancouver offices at Deloitte Summit tower. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

deloitte summit vancouver

Deloitte’s Vancouver offices at Deloitte Summit tower. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

A three-storey atrium within the uppermost floors of Deloitte’s volume in the tower is the centrepiece of the entire office, featuring Deloitte’s signature “Green Staircase,” with the bottom floor’s staircase surrounded by greenery sprouting out of planters — also modular. This atrium area forms the main entrance into Deloitte’s office, as well as common spaces such as a cafe, lounge seating, and the 1858 Bistro — a cafeteria-like amenity for Deloitte workers, operated by an in-house culinary team.

The ceiling of this atrium includes programmable lighting that typically lights up with the same shade of green as the crisscrossing pattern of staircases below it, but it will also light up in other colours to celebrate holidays and occasions.

The entire tower rooftop is dedicated as a Deloitte amenity and gathering space, with a large multi-purpose room opening up to an impressively large outdoor terrace with wide-sweeping views of Metro Vancouver to the south and east and the mountains to the north.

There are seating and table areas, along with a partial outdoor kitchen and BBQ, all surrounded by landscaping. Evans notes that the in-house chef is looking to grow herbs on the rooftop for the ingredients needed in the bistro.

deloitte summit vancouver

Deloitte’s Vancouver offices at Deloitte Summit tower. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

deloitte summit vancouver

Deloitte’s Vancouver offices at Deloitte Summit tower. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

deloitte summit vancouver

Deloitte’s Vancouver offices at Deloitte Summit tower. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

deloitte summit vancouver

Deloitte’s Vancouver offices at Deloitte Summit tower. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

deloitte summit vancouver

Deloitte’s Vancouver offices at Deloitte Summit tower. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

deloitte summit vancouver

Deloitte’s Vancouver offices at Deloitte Summit tower. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

deloitte summit vancouver

Deloitte’s Vancouver offices at Deloitte Summit tower. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

“I congratulate Deloitte on the completion of their new BC headquarters and look forward to seeing how Deloitte Summit can act as a showcase for the best that Vancouver has to offer,” said Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim in a statement.

“Projects like Deloitte Summit represent the future of Vancouver’s downtown core; beautiful spaces that can energize our city-centre by bringing together creativity, sustainability, economic activity, and innovation.”

Deloitte Summit officially reached completion in Spring 2022, at which point the various tenants could begin their work outfitting their leased spaces to specification.

The building is developed and owned by Westbank, and jointly designed by Tokyo-based OSO and Vancouver-based Merrick Architecture.

The tower’s unique form is inspired by the shape of a Japanese lantern — comprised of a system of four-storey cubes stacked around a central concrete core. The building has a total floor area of about 355,000 sq ft, and it achieves a high level of sustainability with a LEED Gold certification, with features such as power and heat provided by 100% renewable energy, rainwater recycling, waste management processes, smart building technology that enables lower energy use, and exterior greenery.

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Exterior of Deloitte Summit tower in downtown Vancouver. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

deloite summit vancouver office tower

Exterior of Deloitte Summit tower in downtown Vancouver. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

deloite summit vancouver office tower

Exterior of Deloitte Summit tower in downtown Vancouver. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

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Exterior of Deloitte Summit tower in downtown Vancouver. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

“When we were trying to choose our next home, when they put their proposal on the table, Ian Gillespie [of Westbank] said we wanted Deloitte — that brand, who are you, and what you represent. It’s a perfect fit. And we agreed. When we saw it as an option, it was like, ‘Yes!'” added Evans.

Other major office tenants in the building include Northeastern University and Apple. Within the ground level, the building’s retail offerings include a Royal Bank of Canada branch, Vancouver’s first Hello123 restaurant, and Giovane Caffè by Kitchen Table Restaurants.

Prior to landing on Deloitte Summit, the company’s longtime Vancouver corporate office location was within the Bentall Centre complex. It used Spaces co-working’s office space at the old Tom Lee Building in the Granville Entertainment District to fill its temporary space needs in advance of Deloitte Summit’s completion.

deloitte summit vancouver

Deloitte’s Vancouver offices at Deloitte Summit tower. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

deloitte summit vancouver

Deloitte’s Vancouver offices at Deloitte Summit tower. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

deloitte summit vancouver

Deloitte’s Vancouver offices at Deloitte Summit tower. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

deloitte summit vancouver

Deloitte’s Vancouver offices at Deloitte Summit tower. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

deloitte summit vancouver

Deloitte’s Vancouver offices at Deloitte Summit tower. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

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