CIBC Headquarters

Overview

Opportunity

Solution

Impact

Team

CIBC’s decision to move its global headquarters from Bay Street to Toronto’s burgeoning south core ranks as one of the most consequential real estate moves in the city over the past decade.

Location

Toronto, Ontario

Client

CIBC

Expertise

Financial Services Professional Services Brand Design [FPO] Built To Suit [FPO] Headquarters

Opportunity

CIBC’s new headquarters needed to break down existing silos to create opportunities for spontaneous connection.

As it would be home to multiple business units, CIBC’s workplace had to be as inclusive as it is fully connected, and collaborative. While their previous space limited employees to an assigned desk on a single floor associated with their specific division of the bank, the new workplace presented a unique opportunity to encourage interaction and cross-pollination between departments.

Why This Matters

01
Breaking Down Silos
As the CIBC Headquarters would be home to multiple business units, the workplace had to increase collaboration and create moments for genuine connection and knowledge-sharing.
02
Empowering Choice and Focus
Today’s employees crave the freedom to choose the space that suits their work mode of the day. CIBC’s Headquarters needed to provide a variety of workspaces, each designed for its own unique purpose.
03
Equity and Wellbeing
As one of Canada’s six major banking institutions, CIBC has a responsibility to serve a diversity of customers and employees alike. Their headquarters is no different, and inclusion, equity, and wellbeing is embedded into every corner of the design.

We wanted a carefully curated space that allows clients to have memorable interactions with the people and brand we proudly represent. The design of the space serves a supporting role in achieving this goal, amplifying interactions in an elegant, contemporary hospitality infused setting.

Solution

The solution was a vertically connected workplace ecosystem that replaced siloed floors with flexible, inclusive, and experience-driven environments designed to increase interaction, choice, and organizational cohesion.

Gensler organized the headquarters trios of interconnected floors, each anchored by destination amenities such as cafés, libraries, wellness spaces, and community areas that draw people through the workplace. Unassigned seating, varied collaboration settings, enclosed focus rooms, and adaptable meeting spaces support different work modes without reinforcing hierarchy.

Equitable access to daylight, inclusive planning, hospitality-driven specialty floors, and seamlessly integrated hybrid technology extend the ecosystem beyond the desk, creating a workplace that is flexible, social, high-performing, and built for long-term change.

From brief to build: how flexibility, wellness, and sustainability work together to maximize a project’s impact.

Gensler embedded sustainability into its design workflows to prioritize the selection and procurement of low-carbon, sustainable materials. The team also compared products with lower embodied carbon options, applied material guidelines from CIBC’s sustainability framework, and aligned specifications with LEED and WELL criteria.

To maximize flexibility, the design leverages a modular “kit-of-parts” approach, enabling meeting rooms and collaboration areas to be easily reconfigured for long-term adaptability without demolition. This strategy minimized material waste by reducing the need for demolition and reconstruction and extended the lifecycle of interior components through adaptable layouts and standardized finishes.

Impact

Together, these design improvements transformed CIBC’s headquarters into a more connected, inclusive, and adaptable workplace supporting collaboration, wellbeing, innovation, and cultural change.

By replacing silos with a vertical ecosystem of destinations, flexible settings, equitable access, and seamless technology, the workplace increased interaction, choice, and comfort.

What Changed Because of This

01
Environmental Performance
Clear energy, carbon, and water targets shaped design decisions from the outset, resulting in a 22% energy reduction, 28% operational carbon reduction, and 45% water savings over baseline.
02
Increased Connection
The headquarters shifted from assigned, siloed floors to a connected ecosystem of unassigned seating, destination amenities, and varied settings that encourage movement, collaboration, and choice.
03
Reduced Hierarchy
The new workplace replaced assigned desks and status-based space allocation with unassigned seating, equitable access to daylight, and shared settings designed for a more inclusive employee experience.

Recognition

01

The Globe and Mail

The publication explores how CIBC is creating a new type of financial services workplace.

Team

Project Leadership

Annie Bergeron

As a Design Director and Principal in Gensler's Toronto office, Annie has more than 30 years of experience designing for tech, media, and financial services companies.

[FPO] Astrid Sanchez

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[FPO] Andrew Gallici

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FAQ

01

Where is the CIBC Headquarters located?

The project is located at CIBC Square in the heart of downtown Toronto.

02

Why are amenities distributed across multiple floors?

Placing cafés, library spaces, wellness areas, and community spaces on different floors encourages people to move through the workplace and connect with colleagues.

03

How does the design reduce hierarchy?

The workplace is fully unassigned and non-hierarchical, with shared access to daylight, amenities, and a wide variety of work settings for all employees.

04

What impact did the new headquarters have on workplace culture?

It created a more connected, inclusive, and flexible environment that supports collaboration, strengthens relationships, and helps employees work together more seamlessly.

Related Work

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Deutsche Bank Americas Headquarters

A former media giant’s vacated workplace was transformed into a hospitality-infused, future-forward financial headquarters where trading, technology, and hospitality converge.

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[FPO] Confidential Resources Company Executive Office

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Related Expertise

Financial Services Professional Services Brand Design Built To Suit Headquarters

CIBC’s decision to move its global headquarters from Bay Street to Toronto’s burgeoning south core ranks as one of the most consequential real estate moves in the city over the past decade.

CIBC’s new headquarters needed to break down existing silos to create opportunities for spontaneous connection.

Why This Matters

The solution was a vertically connected workplace ecosystem that replaced siloed floors with flexible, inclusive, and experience-driven environments designed to increase interaction, choice, and organizational cohesion.

From brief to build: how flexibility, wellness, and sustainability work together to maximize a project’s impact.

Together, these design improvements transformed CIBC’s headquarters into a more connected, inclusive, and adaptable workplace supporting collaboration, wellbeing, innovation, and cultural change.

What Changed Because of This