Text provided by the architects
After renovations that lasted over 18 months, Eidos-Montréal™—known for the global success of Tomb Raider® and Deus Ex® games—finally moved back into their workspace in September of 2019. The studio, located in the heart of Montréal and designed in collaboration with local architecture firm La SHED, now occupies an area of nearly 60,000 square feet (more than six U.S. football fields)! Its initiators see the project as a new way to envision video game production: at the intersection of creativity and community.
"Sometimes we forget that games are first and foremost cultural products. They need environments that encourage knowledge sharing and collaboration," says David Anfossi, Head of Studio at Eidos-Montréal. "In the 12 years since we opened in Montréal, we've gone from 3 to 500 employees. We need to think of the space as a whole—an expression of the sense of community and family that sets us apart."
An adult playground
At the heart of the new space is an open staircase that leads to two floors. The common area is unique and reminiscent of a forum: a meeting place where narratives converge. Bright triangular light fixtures were installed on the ceiling to evoke movement, and chosen materials pay homage to the Japanese culture that connects Eidos-Montréal to its parent company, Square Enix®. To achieve this warm, minimalist atmosphere, Eidos-Montréal teamed up with a specialized residential architecture firm: La SHED.
"The project rests on the concept of breaking down walls to drive connections and sharing between the studio's 500 creators," says Yannick Laurin, architect and founder of La SHED. "Everything—volume, texture, lighting, visuals—was designed to make the workspace feel like a village where people work together, collaborate and communicate."
The studio wants to attract talent and expertise to cultivate their own know-how and innovation in a unique environment with the latest technologies. The space features a new motion capture and high-performance photogrammetry studio, a user research lab, a 4K projection room and a Dolby Atmos® voice recording and mixing studio, among the most cutting-edge in the industry.
comments