FUTURE LABS

Its glazed facade, interrupted by a diagonal slash of balconies, reveals a stack of knife’s-edge floor plates made more dramatic through repetition. The kinetic geometry of its mass timber columns, also aslant, is emphasized by triangular windows that can be popped open. Yet NEXT — by Gensler, Buro Happold and KPFF — is just a design experiment for now, a proposal for the future of commercial laboratories, those sophisticated facilities that host research in pharmaceuticals, biotechnology and the life sciences. It’s the kind of commercial space that is largely non-existent in Canada. But with the pandemic changing the face of commercial real estate, NEXT is a sure-fire sign: The small-scale urban