New Surrey Regional Office Provides Plenty of Amenities and Sustainable Features

Surrey, BC – Qualico employees in the British Columbia Region now have a new regional office to call home that includes improved amenities and an impressive sustainable design.

Employees from StreetSide Developments, Foxridge Homes, Qualico Communities and Qualico Commercial moved into the new building – located in the Cloverdale community in Surrey – at the end of August 2020. The majority of the move took place over just one weekend, and some employees even brought along family members to assist.

According to Gary Mertens, Regional Vice-President, British Columbia Region, the move went flawlessly, thanks to everyone involved, including a committee that organized the transition.

“The whole moving process speaks to the great employees we have, and the committee did an excellent job organizing things efficiently,” said Gary. “The dedication and hard work that went into this in advance, and during the move, ensured everyone could come to work with everything up and running.”

A number of amenities included in the design will ensure that employees enjoy their time spent in the office even more, as noted by Jonathan Meads, Vice-President, StreetSide Developments BC.

“Our new office has been built to the highest quality and latest sustainable standards and practices,” he said. “We have made a series of selections in building design and product that will improve occupant health and comfort in ways people may not realize.”

For example, the lighting in the office is colour-rendered to be more comfortable on the eyes, and the light is either reflected or diffused to reduce glare and flicker. In addition, employees will be working at lifting workstations that allow them to switch between sitting and standing throughout the day.

For those who cycle to work or want to get some exercise during lunch hour, the office includes a staff shower, which can help encourage employees to get more physical activity.

Other amenities include breakout spaces for meetings, design tables so teams can meet and review designs, and a central kitchen where people from all business units can use.

Some of the sustainable aspects of the new office include features that reduce solar heat gain within the building, an HVAC system that is 75 per cent more efficient than standard systems, LED lighting with occupancy and daylight sensors, and low-flow water fixtures and toilets.

Aesthetics also play a large part in the new Surrey regional office’s appeal.

“There is a lot of interior glass and open space,” said Gary. “It has a very fresh, open feeling with lots of natural light. Our employees love the space – they are proud and feel good about working in an environment like this.”

Along with all of the bells and whistles included in the new office is the long-term suitability of it for the multiple business units located there.

“We now have room to grow and expand here, based on our new office space,” said Gary. “As well, the public and industry perception that comes with us having a substantial, high-quality office building is something that is certainly going to help us moving forward.”

Although restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic meant that the new office opened amid less fanfare than originally anticipated, the business units may hold a delayed event in the future to allow employees, their families, trades, consultants and others to tour the building and celebrate its completion.