Did you hear that we’ve moved locations? Welcome to the new Pratt Homes head office! We’re very proud of our family legacy of homebuilding in Barrie. Our legacy started with Karen’s great, great grandfather in the 1890’s. When looking for a new office building, it is only fitting that we moved into a space that has been in Barrie as long (even a bit longer) than our Pratt family roots.
Building Exterior
Welcome to Pratt’s new head office space, originally First Baptist Church built in 1878. The decorative brickwork tells a story of the builder: professional plasterer and mason George Brown. Though the building had a spire at first, it was hit by lightning and the owners were unable to restore it. Later, in 1997, the Baptist church moved out of this beautiful building and it was sold to a private business.
Interior Design
The interior of the building tells its own story. The church building itself inspired many of the design decisions made when renovating for the Pratt offices. Special consideration was made when blending original historic elements with modern accents.
We featured the original trim as the focal point of the new design. As a result, painting the trim black creates contrast against the bright white modern wall coverings. We installed historic white brick to the main cathedral ceiling. This added additional architectural detail to further draw the eye up to the intricate quatrefoil filigree. The eight hanging pendant lights are original to the church. The milk glass shades on the lights were the main inspiration for the bright white walls.
Second Floor Lounge and Offices
A custom glass and steel pivot door echoes the lines of the entry window. This second floor lounge and office area was a passion concept. Its glass cube style offices are set up for collective and inviting collaboration between the Ownership team and their Vice Presidents.
Feature Window and Main Reception
The original stained glass feature window at the front of the church was replaced previously with a geometric gothic window. This window was another major design influence. Only a few original stained glass windows remain, which became inspiration for our accent colour palette: saturated reds, burnt oranges, yellows and blues. These colours are now scattered around the building to draw attention to the beautiful original glass.
In the main reception, a custom sculpture by the renovation designer Gemma Elizabeth piques the curiosity of visitors. Meant to represent broken pieces of the original stained glass window suspended in space, the sculpture reflects colour onto the white walls as the light shines through.
Being that the historic building is steeped in traditional elements, the overall design scheme intends to completely contrast the original with mid-century furnishings and colours. The elements of the building now stand out juxtaposed to the ultra clean-lined finishes we’ve installed.
We’ve Moved!
So where is this beautiful, newly renovated office that we have moved into? The Pratt Homes head office team is now right in the heart of downtown Barrie at 35 Worsley Street. It’s a mere three doors down from Pratt’s Development head office at 27 Clapperton Street.
Our 301 King Street flagship office has become our newly expanded Design Market and Service Lounge, hosting all our homeowners.
More Photos Of Our New Office
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