In Brampton, near Toronto, the Canadian telecom giant Nortel repurposed a defunct 400,000-square-foot manufacturing plant not just as a corporate HQ for 3,500 people, but as a city-like ecosystem meant to channel the creative messiness of urban life. Working with the architects HOK, the company erected a Main Streets, trellis-wired neighborhoods, and stone-paved boulevards. “We wanted to infuse this workplace with the richness of city life,” architect Kathrin Brunner explained. It was a cool attempt, even if the result ultimately felt more like a sprawling Swiss suburb than a New York borough.
