Real Estate

PHOTOS: MEC’s stunning new Vancouver headquarters

By Jacob Parry /

MEC first bought the site in 2008, before selling it to a property investment firm. Now the company is on a long-term lease.



The main atrium.



The ground floor.



The gym, which will eventually house CrossFit equipment and spin bikes.



The bouldering “cave” is tucked in behind the building’s conference centre.



Besides a bouldering gym, the facility has storage for 128 bikes.



Two large drums on the roof, which is later channeled into a rooftop garden, intended to evoke the former salt marsh upon which the building was constructed.



The North Shore is clearly visible from the buildings’ roof.



The building’s fourth-floor cafeteria.



The design centre is located on the second floor.



The atrium.



The main entrance.



A five minute walk from VCC-Clark Skytrain Station, the building is located at 1077 Great Northern Way.



The building’s atrium is open to four floors of office space.



The cafeteria opens up onto a roof garden.



The entire office space is bright and airy.



The company’s future call centre.



Mayor Gregor Robertson chats with MEC CEO David Labistour and CFO Sandy Treagus.



The building features a view of downtown.


The B.C.-based outdoor retailer has moved into a 112,000-square-foot campus on the east end of the False Creek flats

Mountain Equipment Co-op unveiled its airy new Eastside headquarters Thursday, giving the media and Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson a tour of the complex.

Spread out over four floors, the LEED-certified building features a bouldering gym, a rooftop garden and a large multipurpose space that doubles as a spin room and CrossFit gym.

For years, the company has strained to fit its 300 head office employees—which includes design teams, sales, marketing and administration—in its Mount Pleasant building, said Tim Southam, public affairs at MEC. 

The new campus, centered around a bright four-storey wood beam atrium, will centralize the company’s operations in Vancouver, just down the street from Emily Carr’s future campus on Great Northern Way.

“The new landmark head office is a huge boost for the False Creek flats, which is emerging as a thriving district for innovation and green enterprise,” said Mayor Robertson in a statement.