With the help of Kasian, Export Development Canada (EDC) is constructing a new 18-storey headquarters in downtown Ottawa. The building is composed of an advanced program that will house 1300 employees, meet LEED Gold standards and be ready for occupancy in 2011. 
Key drivers identified in the visioning sessions have been applied to both the planning and look and feel of the project. EDC's desire to reflect a strong Canadian image presented a particularly important design challenge to the team.  Seizing the idea of Canada as a multicultural society as well as components of EDC's global mandate, the Kasian team focused on representing EDC's export markets in a physical way within the space.  A large percentage of staff will have semi-enclosed workstations that allow access to natural daylight and views while maintaining the privacy required for concentrative, analytical work. 
Cultural patterns from different world regions and markets are distilled to their most fundamental elements and applied to glass office fronts, walls and other subtle applications throughout.

Client: Export Development Canada
Size: 325,000 sq. ft.
Construction Value: $50 M (incl. furniture)
Completion Date: Scheduled for 2011