Design

Workspace: Inside Maple’s New Homey Office

Located inside one of Toronto’s heritage buildings, the telehealth company’s new head office is designed for deep work and collaboration

The front desk of Maple's new head offices in Toronto

(Photography: Nicola Betts)

By Rebecca Gao

Sep 18, 2024

In 2019, telehealth company Maple had about 50 employees around the country. Then the pandemic hit in 2020 and employees were sent home—but the company grew, thanks to the demand for telehealth during lockdowns. Once it was time to return to the office, Maple’s space in Toronto’s fashion district was no longer big enough for its 69 employees based in and around the city (the company’s total headcount quadrupled, with about 200 employees in total across Canada).

Maple knew it needed to move out of its old office and into something roomier that still reflected the company’s values of wellness, flexibility and collaboration. So in June 2023, it moved into a spacious newly-renovated office, just a short walk from the old space.

At just under 7,000 square feet, Maple’s office has plenty of space for its hybrid workers who come into the office at least twice a week (the rest of Maple’s workforce are fully remote). Collaborating closely with the landlord, the team at Maple was able to totally renovate the unit in the heritage building into something modern and functional for its team.

The exterior of Maple's new head offices in one of Toronto's heritage buildings. — The exterior of Maple’s new head offices in one of Toronto’s heritage buildings. (Photography: Nicola Betts)

The resulting space does away with the harsh lighting, cramped cubicles and uncomfortable seating of traditional offices. Instead, the team opted for a homey vibe—light wood floors, plush couch seating with throws and cushions, massive house plants and huge windows that bring in natural light—which gives the feeling of having stepped into someone’s (immaculately decorated) home. “We wanted the space to feel cozy, knowing that a lot of people are used to working from home,” says Roxana Zaman, Maple’s co-founder and chief operations officer. The main communal work space in the office is even called “the living room.”

In addition to comfort, the new office prioritizes both collaboration and focussed solo work. The living room features wide-screen TVs, microphones, cameras and speakers for large Zoom calls—think town halls and all-hands meetings. Couches and armchairs in the living room are also designed with pull-out surfaces that employees can place laptops on, should they want to do a bit of work or meet with coworkers in a more relaxed environment.

Along the perimeter of the living room are six bookable meeting rooms and two soundproof work pods, which are also decked out with video call capabilities. Each meeting space is named after Canadian medical trailblazers like Dr. Emily Stowe (the first woman to establish a medical practice in Canada) and Dr. Thomas A. Dignan (an Indigenous doctor who fought for equitable healthcare and a national chickenpox vaccination standard). Just behind the living room is the office’s quiet work space—a large room with long desks and plenty of natural light. In this space, Maple has rejected cubicles in favour of hotdesking: Team members are able to book their workstation before heading into the office.

All of these features were inspired by employee responses, says Zaman. When designing the office, Zaman and her team sent out a survey to all Maple employees, soliciting their opinions. Employees said they were concerned about distractions in the office, space for private meetings, transit access and proximity to restaurants for team lunches. “We have such a feedback driven culture [at Maple],” Zaman says. “So, when it came to the new office, it really was just another thing we wanted to involve employees in.” The new workspace addresses these main concerns with the near-silent focussed workspace, triple the amount of bookable meeting rooms and a location that is just blocks away from two subway stations and multiple streetcar lines.

Here’s a look inside Maple’s new office space.

When you step into the office, you’re immediately greeted by the living room—a collaborative work space decked out with comfy custom furniture from design firm Sensyst. — When guests step into the office, they’re immediately greeted by the living room—a collaborative work space decked out with comfy custom furniture from design firm Sensyst. (Photography: Nicola Betts)

For focussed, heads-down work, employees can book a workstation for the day. This room is an agreed-upon quiet space, perfect for deep focus. (Photography: Nicola Betts)

These pods, also from Sensyst, are sound proof and can fit up to 4 people at a time for private conversations and calls. (Photography: Nicola Betts)

Meeting rooms at Maple, like this one named after the first Canadian-born Black physician Dr. Anderson Ruffin Abbott, are all fitted with video calling capabilities—just connect to your call by entering your Zoom meeting code into an iPad that’s hooked up to the room’s AV equipment. — Meeting rooms at Maple, like this one named after the first Canadian-born Black physician Dr. Anderson Ruffin Abbott, are all fitted with video calling capabilities—employees can just connect to a call by entering their Zoom meeting code into an iPad that’s hooked up to the room’s AV equipment. (Photography: Nicola Betts)

It was important to Zaman that the office kitchen was inviting—somewhere you’d actually want to have lunch. “You can actually get comfortable during your lunch hour,” she says. Often, teams congregate around the long table to take breaks. — It was important to Zaman that the office kitchen was inviting—somewhere her team would actually want to have lunch. “You can actually get comfortable during your lunch hour,” she says. Often, teams congregate around the long table to take breaks. (Photography: Nicola Betts)

Rebecca Gao

Rebecca Gao is a Toronto-based journalist writing about tech, business, culture and health. She has bylines in publications like Bon Appetit, Chatelaine, Toronto Life and Best Health.