Lightspeed offices – Phase 1, Montréal Commercial Building Interior, Canadian Architecture Photos
Lightspeed offices – Phase 1 in Montréal, Quebec
10 Dec 2020
Lightspeed offices – Phase 1
Architects: ACDF Architecture
Location: Montréal, Québec, Canada
Lightspeed offices – Phase 1

For the new global headquarters of Lightspeed, a burgeoning, Montreal-based developer of point-of-sale software, ACDF Architecture reinvigorated three floors of the historical Viger train station and hotel, a nearly forgotten, chateaustyle building whose pointed turrets overlook a prominent civic square. The studio did so by preserving the found, raw elements of the once-abandoned space, superimposing a layer of select, slick, wit-filled elements that pop against the roughness and reflect the clients? dynamic, creative and vigorous brand.
Lightspeed has had a fast, audacious rise since it was founded in 2005, growing from a home-based business to a thriving global entity with satellites in Europe and North America. It aims to be the first Montreal tech company with a billion-dollar valuation. At its headquarters, which are currently 30,000-square-feet with plans for another 20,000 by spring 2016, the company wanted room for an expanding workforce while retaining its culture as a tight-knit, nimble startup.

Throughout, ACDF forged connections between the past and the future, reflecting the unique heritage and joie de vivre of its locale (setting it a part from the st...