Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan

Overview

Opportunity

Solution

Impact

Team

After more than 30 years in its uptown location, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (OTPP) moved to the heart of Toronto’s Financial District to attract and retain the best talent.

Location

Toronto, Ontario

Client

Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (OTPP)

Expertise

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

Opportunity

OTPP’s new headquarters needed to provide its people with the workspaces, amenities, and flexibility employees crave in the modern workplace. It also had to reflect its strong brand and professional commitments.

OTPP’s move to downtown Toronto offered an opportunity to both modernize its office and transform its workplace philosophy from “me-to-we.” The space needed to reflect OTPP’s core values, commitment to inclusion and reconciliation, and responsibility toward delivering outstanding service and retirement security. OTPP’s strong organizational purpose acted as the bedrock for the workplace design and strategy as the ten-floor space was created with OTPP’s brand, amenities, and workspaces employees have come to expect.

Why This Matters

01
From Uptown to Downtown
Change is hard. Change for the first time in 30-years? Even harder. Gensler employed a change management strategy to excite employees about the new workplace location.
02
Attracting Top Tier Talent
OTPP’s office offers a space for every mood and work mode. Here, employees can choose from a variety of workspaces and amenity areas.
03
Infusing Brand in the Workplace
The entire ten-floor workplace embodies OTPP’s brand and core values. Each ecosystem feels unique to encourage connection and exploration.

Our new workplace in Toronto provides a state-of-the-art destination for our people to connect and collaborate. We’ve significantly elevated the in-office experience, which also helped us earn the Leesman+ certification.

Solution

Divided into three distinct ecosystems, OTPP’s workplace is guided by three key design inspirations: Strength, Nurture, and Energy.

Designed to prioritize connection, wellness, and flexibility, each ecosystem in OTPP’s ten-floor workplace empowers employees to choose where and how they work best. A mix of collaboration hubs, quiet zones, and flexible meeting rooms supports every work mode. From the barista bar and game room to the wellness suite and more, the workplace offers a space for every time of day, mindset, and need.

From brief to build: How design strategy can translate an organization‘s core values into its own unique graphic language.

To infuse the entire ten-floor workplace with OTPP’s brand, the design team deconstructed the organization’s signature apple logo and translated its core values into a series of assigned icons. Noticeable in both the micro and the macro, OTPP’s core value icons come together to illustrate the workplace’s “Tree of Unity” graphic, which begins with the humble apple seed on the lower floors, and evolves and grows up the ten-floor stack to sprout, flower, and bear fruit — the organization’s apple logo.

Core Value Icons

Gensler translated OTPP’s core values into its own unique graphic language

Impact

There’s no need for a return-to-work mandate. OTPP has simply become the standard for Canadian workplaces.

In 2025, OTPP received Leesman+ certification, a global recognition of top-tier workplaces providing significantly better experiences than employees have at home. OTPP ranks fourth globally, the only Canadian company to make the list.

What Changed Because of This

01
Workspace Flexibility
OTPP’s new workplace functions as the benchmark for connection, collaboration, and inspiration. It empowers employees to work how and where they need.
02
Sustainability
Deep lake cooling, efficient LED lighting, responsible water use, reduced plastics, and sustainable materials all underscore OTPP’s commitment to sustainability.
03
Brand Reflection
The new workplace is a reflection of the organization’s core values and Canadian history through the curation of Canadian artwork, the inclusion of the Downie Wenjack Legacy Space, and comprehensive design.

To reduce silos, OTPP aimed to transform its new workplace philosophy from ‘Me-to-We’ to foster a better collaboration and reduce a sense of hierarchy.

Recognition

01

Work Design Magazine

Highlights how the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan project is prioritizing purpose, people, and place.

02

Benefits Canada

Features an interview with OTPP’s Design Director, Matthew Kobylar, speaking about Gensler’s 2026 workplace survey.

Team

Project Leadership

Matthew Kobylar

As a Design Director in Gensler’s Toronto office, Matthew Kobylar brings a pragmatic, research-backed approach to delivering high-quality workplace environments. His process is rooted in understanding a client’s aspirations to design a workplace that fully aligns with their business goals, culture, and brand.

[FPO] Jessica Mascarenhas

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[FPO] Christa McManus

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Kevin Katigbak

As Strategy Director and Principal in Gensler's Toronto office, Kevin specializes in using placemaking to create inclusive, accessible, and sustainable environments. He delivers workplace and design strategies that help clients adapt to disruption and the changing nature of work.

FAQ

01

Where is it located?

OTPP is located in the heart of Toronto’s Financial District

02

Is the project certified for sustainability?

The workplace is LEED Platinum certified

03

What amenities does it have?

OTPP includes a host of high-demand amenities, including: The Canopy (barista bar), Chef’s Harvest (grab & go), Ecosystem cafés and tea points, Level-Up (game room), and a multi-faith and parent room.

04

How does it support wellness?

The workplace fosters physical and mental well-being via natural plants and biophilic design, equitable access to natural light, hydration stations, and parent and multifaith rooms.

05

What is a Legacy space?

As education is the bedrock of OTPP’s brand and values, the new workplace features a Downie-Wenjack Legacy Space. A physical representation of OTPP’s commitment to Reconciliation, the Legacy Space features a variety of Canadian artworks, including a mural commissioned from an Indigenous artist.

Related Work

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Related Expertise

Financial Services Built to Suit & Headquarters Brand Design Strategy Professional Services Hospitality

After more than 30 years in its uptown location, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (OTPP) moved to the heart of Toronto’s Financial District to attract and retain the best talent.

OTPP’s new headquarters needed to provide its people with the workspaces, amenities, and flexibility employees crave in the modern workplace. It also had to reflect its strong brand and professional commitments.

Why This Matters

Divided into three distinct ecosystems, OTPP’s workplace is guided by three key design inspirations: Strength, Nurture, and Energy.

From brief to build: How design strategy can translate an organization‘s core values into its own unique graphic language.

There’s no need for a return-to-work mandate. OTPP has simply become the standard for Canadian workplaces.

What Changed Because of This