For the Government of British Columbia, the Ministry of Finance Tax Auditing Department was an obvious candidate for the implementation of a flexible workplace concept. In their existing office, all the departments employees had a personal workstation even though many of them spent the better part of their working hours outside conducting tax audits, attending meetings and, in some cases, working from home. So when the department had to move to a new building, a decisionDivisionwas made to lease fewer square metres in favour of betterCompletion2016space utilization and an improved workplace.Total floor area 1013 sqmThe new office was designed according the governments(usable area)Leading Workplace Strategies initiative (LWS), which aimsTotal # of employees 128to replace the traditional one worker, one desk approachTotal # of83with more flexible solutions. The strategy is the brainchild ofworkstationsthe governments Workplace Strategies and Planning team,Sharing ratio 0.65 workstation/which is headed by Robert Macdonald. Robert explains theemployeerationale behind the strategy: We wanted to respond to theArea/employee 7.9 sqm (usable area)changes around us. Changes in demographics, changes inArea/workstation 12.2 sqmcitizens needs and the rapid advancement in technology.(usable area)There is a greater demand for flexibility, mobility and choice for employees, and the office environment should reflect that.At 900 Howe Street, the LWS principles translated into a 1000 sqm office floorsignificantly smaller than the 1300 sqm at their previous location. All the open workstations are located along the buildings facade, allowing everyone to have access to natural light and outside views. In the inner areas of the floor, there are meeting rooms, quiet rooms, privacy rooms and enclosed offices. There is also a spacious break area that serves as the floors social meeting point and gives access to adjacent meeting rooms. A work lounge with soft seating and a bar table. In total, the floor provides 83 workstations for 128The latter has proved particularly popular.employees. However, not all workstations are shared.