Spacial's lounge: white sofas, black chairs and glass meeting rooms under an iridescent zinc beam

Verdun · 2021 to 2025

The coworking floor we created in a 1930 building on Rue Wellington, designed by Ivy Studio and featured in design magazines around the world.

The idea

Hospitality, not just desks

Spacial filled the second floor of our building on Verdun's main street. It was our family's bet on Verdun: a design-led place to work, with a warm welcome at the front, a kitchen and a lounge to share, and quiet offices for small teams at the back. But we always wanted more than desks. We wanted a room the neighbourhood could use.

Ivy Studio gave it a look all its own: exposed brick and white-painted beams, terrazzo floors, iridescent zinc, glass blocks and deep burgundy. Within weeks, Wallpaper*, Dezeen and ArchDaily were writing about it: a small Verdun project, seen around the world.

Lounge and kitchen island in marble under white beams

Reception desk in iridescent zinc beside a wall of glass blocks

A carafe on the marble counter, booths under iridescent beams behind

Corridor of private offices with burgundy frames and original brick

Kitchen with mint-green cabinets and a long marble bar

Burgundy banquette lined with plants under the windows

Library corner with lounge chairs and black shelving

Private office with red carpet and a brick wall

Lounge with burgundy banquettes, plants and glass-block windows

Booths under iridescent beams with black pendant lamps

Private office behind glass with a brick wall and a plant

Entrance hall from the stair, with a round window at the end

Marble kitchen counter with stools and black shelving

Marble island looking toward the booths and the lounge

Lounge with ferns and white sofas by the windows

Planters and banquettes running toward the street windows

Lounge and meeting rooms under the iridescent beam

Reception in iridescent zinc with a round blue window

Interior design: Ivy Studio · Construction: Gestion Gauthier Construction · Photos: @lifebynicolas and Helisis, 2021

A 1930 building

The building at 4012 rue Wellington dates from 1930. Before Spacial, its second floor held a martial arts gym and a beauty salon. We bought the building in 2019 and asked Ivy Studio, a young Montréal practice, to turn the floor into a place people would want to work. Spacial opened in the spring of 2021.
Bringing in daylight

The old floor had windows only on the street side. Ivy Studio cut glass-block openings into the stair wall and added skylights over the private offices at the back, so daylight reaches the middle of the floor. The designers compare working in those offices to working in a courtyard.
The story behind the shine

The rainbow metal on the front desk and beams is plain zinc, treated with gasoline to give it an oil-slick sheen. The kitchen counters are Rosso Levanto marble. Part of the terrazzo underfoot, including the stair, is the building's own, kept and polished, and the brick walls are the original brick, cleaned and sealed.

2021 to 2025

A room the neighbourhood could use

Spacial's door at 4012 rue Wellington, under its sign

In four years, Spacial hosted more than thirty events: business networks, community groups, comedy, workshops and a lot of breakfasts. Here are a few.

Verdun's business network

Three Christmases with the RAV

The Réseau d'affaires de Verdun held its Christmas cocktail at Spacial three years in a row, in 2022, 2023 and 2024: business owners, community groups and elected officials from every level of government, in one room.

Culture on the Well

A comedy night that became a festival

Two members started a stand-up night in our lounge in 2023, and we hosted it for free. A year later it grew into the Comédie sur la Well Festival: seven days, more than twenty shows and seven venues along Wellington Street, launched at Spacial in May 2024.

Entrepreneurs

A room for people building something

From the first months, we offered the room free to entrepreneur groups. Groupe La Relève launched its seasons here, with family-business owners pitching growth ideas to expert panels and an improv workshop with the LNI. PME MTL held advisor sessions on site, and we partnered with La Guilde du jeu vidéo du Québec to give independent game studios a home.

Every month, something

Breakfast on the first Wednesday. A 5 à 7 when the weather was good. Halloween, potlucks, a Philippine Independence Day party started by a member, and a Christmas night open to all of Verdun. Small rituals that turned neighbours into a community.

Spring 2021Spacial opens, and design magazines from Wallpaper* to Dezeen and ArchDaily publish Ivy Studio's work.
Nov. 2021Partnership with La Guilde du jeu vidéo du Québec for independent game studios.
Dec. 2021Official launch on Rue Wellington.
Apr. 2022Groupe La Relève's first evening at Spacial: a blind wine-tasting workshop for family businesses.
May 2022Finalist, New Business of the Year, Gala UNIO of the Chambre de commerce et d'industrie du Sud-Ouest de Montréal.
Sept. 2022Groupe La Relève season launch: members pitch their growth ideas to an expert panel.
Dec. 2022First Christmas cocktail of the Réseau d'affaires de Verdun at Spacial.
Mar. 2023Improv workshop with the Ligue nationale d'improvisation on the real challenges of family businesses.
Summer 2023Comedy on the Well starts in the lounge.
Sept. 2023Monthly community programme: first-Wednesday breakfasts, 5 à 7s and lunch-and-learns. Groupe La Relève's 10th-season launch, and a charity evening for the Fondation des jeunes de la DPJ.
Nov. 2023Members give to the Guignolée des petits renards for the children of Verdun.
Dec. 2023Audace au Féminin evening, and the RAV Christmas cocktail again.
May 2024Launch party of the Comédie sur la Well Festival, and an evening with Chantier d'Afrique du Canada.
June 2024PME MTL Grand Sud-Ouest advisors meet entrepreneurs on site.
Sept. 2024Evening with the Carrefour jeunesse-emploi de Verdun.
Dec. 2024Third RAV Christmas cocktail, and A Very Spacial Christmas, open to all of Verdun.

The street

Rue Wellington, then and now

Aerial photograph of Wellington Street and De l'Église in Verdun around 1930 — Wellington and De l'Église from the air, about 1930: the year our building went up.

Verdun's main street has been its heart for a century: shops, a bank, billiard halls, schools and, at the corner of De l'Église, the spires of Notre-Dame-des-Sept-Douleurs.

Today it is one of Montréal's liveliest commercial streets. Every summer it closes to cars and becomes the Promenade Wellington, full of terraces, sidewalk sales and festivals, including the comedy festival that started upstairs at Spacial.

Rue Wellington with its brick shopfronts and terraces

Notre-Dame-des-Sept-Douleurs church on Rue Wellington

Corner of Wellington and De l'Église, with the church spires

Rue Wellington as a pedestrian street in summer

In the design press, 2021

Interior design: Ivy Studio · Construction: Gestion Gauthier Construction. The articles above show the space in photos.

Location

On the Promenade Wellington

De l'Église metro on the green line is a minute away, and the cafés and restaurants of Rue Wellington are right downstairs. In summer the street becomes the Promenade Wellington, full of terraces.