The Frank and Oak clothing brand is inspired by life in the city and in nature, purposefully curated to be innovative and responsive to their clientele as well as the environment.

When such lifestyle and eco-responsible choices are an integral part of the brand, they naturally become the driving force behind all decisions including, of course, those influencing the workplace.

Building a new workspace for the Frank and Oak team which reflected their philosophy had an additional challenge: maintaining the atmosphere of the workshop they'd originally developed while improving the quality of life for all who worked there.

The journey began with the owners' decision to remain at their original address in this working-class Mile End neighborhood — the epicenter of Montreal's artistic innovation. Working closely with their team, we established the groundwork that would set the pace for their revitalized space.

The main entrance and its adjacent showroom introduce two zones: one focused on social gatherings and the other, more quiet and relaxed, that leads onto workspaces.

Crossing the entire length of space, a pathway clearly distinguishes itself as it creates a link between the various zones. Starting with social gatherings, moving towards a lounge that acts as the entrance to the workspaces, which includes large cubes — both offices and meeting areas  — they create voluntary obstacles which slow down cadence and offer smaller, more intimate spaces.

Meanwhile, a second entrance offers an area for employee bikes to be stored and gives access to the coat and locker room.

This space is of course a creative workshop, with talented designers surrounded by textiles, sketches, and samples. It's also a big photo studio and a workshop filled with a lot of clothes! The challenge at the heart of our discussions was to accommodate these activities and to facilitate the process in all of its many steps. The workshop now has large cutting tables, suitable workspaces, and huge clothing storage!

The Imperatori Design team welcomed the challenge of creating a workspace which is at once very Montreal: unconventional, welcoming, green, and artistic but above all, like Frank and Oak — a citizen of the world... without borders.

Technical sheet

Official project name: Frank and Oak - Offices

Location: 160 St-Viateur E, Montréal, QC, Canada

Client: Frank and Oak

Interior Design Firm: Imperatori Design

Design Team: Joanne Imperatori, Chantal Ladrie, Galadrielle Major, Julien Lacroix

Contractor: Construction supervision by the client

Lighting Design: Imperatori Design in collaboration with Lumenpulse and Lambert et Fils

Millwork: De Gaspé 

Workstations: Teknion

Carpet: Interface

Felt panels: Fab.line

Graphics: Kastor & Pollux

Area of project: 19,000 sq.f.t

Project end date: October 2019

Photographer: Ray Van Dusen

About Imperatori Design

Imperatori Design is a Montreal based interior design firm, specializing in creating unique and exceptional work environments. Their approach emphasizes the well-being and performance of employees as well as their belief that each workplace must be a living expression of the company’s vision and uniqueness, that it should give visitors immediate access to its culture.

They design workspaces for a wide range of markets, from technology sectors such as social media, gaming, software, and AI to markets as diverse as financial, legal, communications, entertainment, and media. Their work encompasses large and small scale projects, high profile international firms as well as local businesses located throughout Quebec, across Canada, and the U.S.A. The fact that their team has been privileged to receive a number of design awards makes them proud yet inspires them to always strive for greater impact and effectiveness.