Ice: that’s the theme of this beautiful and conceptually elegant office space by MJM Architects.

It’s the office of Toronto hedge fund managers, and MJM’s Ted Watson took the company’s name – Polar Securities – as the jumping-off point for a space that uses the language of icebergs and ice crystals, expressed in glass, Corian, laminates and ceramic. And lots and lots of white.

Photo gallery after the jump.

The office occupies one floor of the Brutalist Thomson Building at Queen and Bay, and Watson left the mechanics and the structure of the building exposed along the outer walls and the ceiling. Within that envelope of concrete there are smooth textures and a very clear plan. The office is neatly divided in three strips: one public space, one for circulation and meeting rooms, and one for operations. In the open zone, the traders and analysts are arranged together in a long continuous line of desks from analysts to accountants. It is a financial assembly line. But the sculptural “icebergs” that wrap it are tremendously well-executed, right down to the printer bays with counters that serve as meeting points within the open office. The irregular forms even control the acoustics.

I wrote about it for Azure’s June issue.

Photos by Alex Lee.