Canadian Design Firm Ivy Studio Is Revolutionizing Contract Interiors

Part of Metropolis’s Specify Hot List 2021, this Montreal-based firm specializes in custom work for stylish clients.

By: James McCown

To glimpse the future of coworking spaces, take a look at Spacial, a Canadian office-sharing firm not unlike America’s WeWork. Montreal-based Ivy Studio Office of Architecture designed its inaugural location to update the typology with a fresh approach to finishes, furnishings, and the specifying process in general. “Our philosophy is to do as much custom work as possible,” principal Philip Staszewski says. That also happens to be part of the firm’s sustainability strategy: using local craftspeople whenever possible.

“For furniture or finishes, we always try to find a local company,” Staszewski explains. “This gives us more control over the final result and avoids excessive importation of products.” Plus, custom work is a crowd-pleaser. “You might see a beautiful chair in one place but if you see it somewhere else, it takes away from the experience.” 

Like the young workforce associated with the coworking concept, Ivy’s partners (Staszewski, Guillaume Riel, David Kirouac, and Gabrielle Rousseau) are inspired by their shared value systems.

“We’re just a group of four friends working together and having fun designing,” says Riel of himself and his young partners. That doesn’t mean they lack experience: The studio’s impressive list of commercial work includes offices, restaurants, and even barbershops.