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First Gulf and OPTrust are delighted to unveil a groundbreaking video wall at 351 King Street East, officially known as The Globe and Mail Centre.

“Together with our partner, OPTrust, we wanted to introduce a truly one of a kind digital art piece in our beautiful lobby at 351 King Street East,” said Roman Brailovski, Vice President of Property Management & Operations at First Gulf. “To that end, we partnered with Forge Media + Design to create something that captures our commitment to innovation and technology as well as progressive design and superior tenant experience. We are extremely proud of the result and believe that it has helped redefine our lobby as a unique landmark within Toronto.”

Designed by Forge Media, the 12 screens span 70 feet across the western wall of the lobby, greeting pedestrian traffic as they take their first steps into the building from the Front Street entrance.

Laurence Roberts, Founding Principal and Creative Director at Forge Media, stressed that work on the digital art installation took well over a year, adding: “We would like to thank First Gulf and OPTrust for the opportunity to work within this beautiful lobby space at 351 King Street East. The theme of the installation is growth, which has been expressed in two different artworks: ‘Interstitial Space’ and ‘Bloom’. One celebrates the history of Toronto and the important role that its citizens have played in its growth into the vibrant city that we are lucky to live in today, while Bloom presents an idyllic, magical forest-scape to illuminate the importance of maintaining a balance between nature and urban sprawl. We hope that it can bring a little spark of joy to your day when you walk by it.”

Rob Douglas, OPTrust’s Managing Director, Real Estate Investments, added: “For OPTrust, real-estate investments like The Globe and Mail Centre support our mission of paying pensions today, preserving pensions for tomorrow. The Globe and Mail Centre is an award-winning property, and this new installation will further enhance the already exemplary tenant experience.”

The Globe and Mail Centre is a 500,000 sf LEED^® Gold office building that sits within a vibrant hub that is growing in the east end of Toronto’s downtown core. The Coca-Cola Canada headquarters at 333 King Street East was also developed by First Gulf, while construction is underway at The Shift – a 466,000 sf LEED^® Gold office building at 25 Ontario Street.

About First Gulf
First Gulf is an award-winning leader in the development of office, industrial, mixed-use and retail properties with developed assets of over $4 billion completed since the company’s inception in 1987. First Gulf is a fully integrated development company and is involved in all aspects of real estate development, from land acquisition and planning approvals to design-build, construction, leasing, financing and property management. To date, First Gulf has developed and constructed over 30 million sf of office, retail, and industrial real estate. First Gulf is part of the Great Gulf Group, one of North America’s premier real estate organizations. Established in 1975, with major projects in Canada and the United States, the Group’s fully-integrated activities span the entire real estate spectrum.

About OPTrust
With net assets of almost $20 billion, OPTrust invests and manages one of Canada's largest pension funds and administers the OPSEU Pension Plan, a defined benefit plan with almost 95,000 members and retirees. OPTrust was established to give plan members and the Government of Ontario an equal voice in the administration of the Plan and the investment of its assets through joint trusteeship. OPTrust is governed by a 10-member Board of Trustees, five of whom are appointed by OPSEU and five by the Government of Ontario.