The architectural design of the North American Headquarters for Wawanesa Mutual Insurance at True North Square, a new mixed-use high-rise tower development with a large outdoor civic plaza in the heart of downtown Winnipeg, creates a physical representation of Wawanesa’s core values and strategic business goals. The design highlights an innovative company that is determined to meet exceptionally high standards of employee wellbeing and sustainability, including targeted LEED Gold Core & Shell certification. It evokes workplace innovations framed around the importance of wellness, connectivity, collaboration, and engagement, to ensure the future success of Wawanesa and their employees.
The design concept aligns purposely with Wawanesa’s workplace vision. Integrating principles of creativity through a narrative experience of space reflecting the culture and history of Wawanesa, the design is sensitive to many scales of interconnection. From each employee’s own experience in their workplace, to the larger interrelationship of the tower with the plaza at True North Square, Winnipeg’s downtown core, and the broader city and province, Wawanesa’s new building will be a tangible symbol of an overarching commitment to people, clients, and community.
The origin of the design is in the oxbow of the Souris River that not only defines the town of Wawanesa, but is also emblematic of the broader prairie landscape, serving as both a physical and emotive link between a prairie town and its people.