BMO Place

Engaging Visitors and Inspiring Teams with Experiential Design

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BMO Place

New Ways of Working

In April 2023, BMO officially opened Phase 1 of BMO Place, its largest headquarters in the heart of downtown Toronto. The project creatively repurposes a former department store in Toronto’s iconic Eaton Centre, transforming it into a workspace that prioritizes sustainability, wellness, inclusivity, and technology to facilitate a multitude of working styles. At the end of Phase 2, the 350,000 square-foot office will house over 3,200 employees occupying four floors of open workspaces, focus pods and booths, lounge spaces, recreation rooms, cafes, and a wellness centre for yoga, meditation, prayer, and smudging ceremonies.
  • Client

    BMO Place

  • Location

    Toronto, Ontario

  • Sector

    Workplace

  • Discipline

    Experiential Design, Wayfinding

  • Design Collaborators

    Interior Architecture (IA)

  • Photography

    A-Frame Odyssey Photo & Video Production

  • Awards

    Graphis Design Annual Silver Award

BMO Place lounge/lobby areas showing decorative panel installation and colour scheme of blue and grey with bright accents.
Workstation booths with a view of a cityscape graphic with person walking through in the background
Making the Everyday Exceptional

Entro was challenged with infusing BMO’s story into the everyday moments that occur as people navigate the new space. In addition to implementing BMO’s global signage standards, Entro designed a storytelling and graphics program intended to engage visitors and inspire teams. Each floor features a different theme: Level 4 presents the story of BMO’s innovation, and Level 5 speaks to BMO’s commitment to the local and national community. The storytelling program weaves its way through the entire space, energizing staff in high traffic areas and offering moments of respite in calmer workspaces.

  • Casual seating area with an Inclusive Customer Experience information/graphic wall.
  • Community Wall graphics in elevator hall.
  • Detail of Community Wall showing dimensional lettering
  • Lounge/sofa area with a Welcome sign in many languages.
Wall graphic in work booth with ballerina dancer photograph combined with graphics.

Experiential graphics by Entro enliven meeting rooms, pods, lounges, and other workspaces.

The stunning escalator art was created by independent artist Panya Clark Espinal.

Colour Creativity

Entro developed a colour strategy that supports neurodiversity and facilitates wayfinding. Breaking up the large floor plate into different cardinal zones, each represented by its own colour, simplified and clarified the navigational experience. Washroom and amenity signage are inclusive and gender-neutral.

Directional signage on marble.
Plank wayfinding signage mounted on the wall.
office space with window looking out at the Eaton Centre's arched skylight.
BMO marble lobby with BMO branding on the wall behind the reception desk.

We look forward to continuing the collaboration with BMO and its architectural and design partners to further evolve the way people interact with each other and the BMO brand.

Read more about BMO’s new office space here and in the Globe and Mail.

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