Amazon has started moving into The Post.
The renovated and redeveloped Canada Post facility has become a massive office space for the e-commerce (and more) company. Two towers stretching more than 20 stories each into the Vancouver skyline have been built, and the South Tower is ready for employees.
Amazon is leasing 17 floors in the South Tower and 18 in the North Tower; the South Tower will be finished first with five floors opening up to Amazon office workers this month.
21st century office space
The new office space reflects an evolution from the cubicles of the past with an agile workplace, says Amazon spokesperson Kristin Gable.
"Each space is designed around team neighbourhoods, tailored to each team’s unique needs," she explains. "Each neighbourhood includes a mix of individual work spaces, collaborative spaces, and amenities.
"Design considerations also ensure that every seat in our 'shared amenity' areas are high-value work points, where work can be accomplished away from the team neighborhood."
These collaborative spaces show up in a variety of ways, be it space at the front of the "neighbourhood" with whiteboards and seats, small two- or three-person private rooms, conference rooms, or others.
One difference from a traditional workplace is the lack of a permanent desk for most workers. In some ways, the office is set up more like a school.
There are lockers to keep private items, but workspaces are up for grabs (as long as you're in your team's neighbourhood). Managers have private offices as part of their neighborhood, not on another floor or area (and windows are in the general neighbourhood areas).
Each desk is set up the same, with the ability to raise or lower it, and with two screens.
Design nods
The design of the building has a few nods to Vancouver's past, and the building's own history. The Post was built in the late 1950s, opening in 1958 as Canada Post's Vancouver hub, and for decades that's how it operated. Even now people walk in looking for a post office.
The structure itself was well made, so when QuadReal looked at redeveloping the spot, it was more of a renovation and addition. The main structure remains, with the two towers added.
To that end, and fitting given Amazon's business, there are pieces of the post office or nods to mail tucked into the design, like old mail slots built into pillars.
There are also design nods to Vancouver's industrial, lumber, and marine history. The design itself mixes modern office space with elements of the Art Deco and Arts and Crafts movements, which Vancouver architecture was influenced by.
The plan for the space
Amazon already has several offices in the City of Vancouver, and The Post isn't really replacing any of them, per se.
Some employees will be moving over to South Tower, which will be a hub for 3,000 workers, but others will remain in the offices they're in. Amazon will also be taking over the North Tower, but how many people will be there hasn't been determined yet.
"In Vancouver, where Amazon has more than 4,500 corporate technology and non-technology employees, we currently have four permanent offices, spanning close to 400,000 square feet," Gable says. "When The Post is fully complete, it will add close to 1.1 million square feet of office space over a full city block downtown."
Part of the reason for the agile space is that those thousands of employees won't necessarily be in each day, as many could work from home part-time.
More to come
So far only five floors of office space have opened up, but there's still plenty coming to The Post.
Along with the offices, there will be an outdoor sports court, an atrium, and outdoor pet areas all inside the Amazon space.
The Post won't only be an Amazon facility, though. The ground floors will be home to public space with several restaurants and cafes, and a grocery store, along with an open area inside.
