University Health Network (UHN) is a medical research group consisting of four Toronto hospitals with an initiative to collaborate and share information across Canada.  UHN is highly invested with this group of teaching hospitals and their affiliation with the University of Toronto Facility of Medicine. In order to foster this role, UHN required a workplace that provided an open, progressive setting for their employees to connect between, and within, their various research groups. 

Using surveys, architects Tillmann Ruth Robinson conducted employee and group profiling to develop a solid programme as a basis to understand how the environment should enhance the productivity and efficiency for collaboration.  architects Tillmann Ruth Robinson also researched how contract furniture can enhance the productivity and efficiency for collaboration.  The design needed to reflect the modernity of UHN and integrate employees’ everyday tasks with a new way to function in this type of space. The design generated with UHN featured a working lab in an open office environment having full transparency between research groups. Partitions were only required for a few small quiet rooms and a large conference room, while the use of materials and technology were used to control the sound.  

architects Tillmann Ruth Robinson also provided Change Management for the Network to ensure employees understand how to use the more progressive space and could function in it to their and the design’s full capability. Various clusters of working areas provide space for both quiet and team work.  Team work areas feature desking and lounge environments, while quiet areas incorporate individual desks and quiet rooms.