Vancouver-based Pavilion Cowork plans to open two new facilities in the coming months, including its first outside of its home city. The company plans to open in Calgary this fall.

Pavilion is a sister company to Alabaster Homes, a boutique Vancouver homebuilder which has also recently branched out into purpose-built rental homes, condos and commercial. They are headed up by Alabaster president Herman Kwee.

Billing itself as a premium coworking space provider, Pavilion is fitting out a 14,906-square-foot space at 800-550 6th Ave. S., in downtown Calgary. An announcement from Pavilion this week states the location will offer 47 private offices as well as four meeting rooms.

The building is in Calgary’s downtown core, with a connection to its indoors Plus-15 pedestrian network and the city’s light-rail transit system.

It is also another small expression of confidence in the city’s downtown office market, which has been experiencing elevated vacancy levels for a decade, but has been slowly improving over the past couple of years.

The current vacancy sits at 27 per cent according to Colliers Q1 2025 stats, but net absorbancy over the past two quarters has been almost 200,000 square feet.

Third Vancouver location for Pavilion

In Vancouver, where it already operates two coworking locations in the Mount Pleasant neighbourhood which it says are running at capacity, Pavilion plans to open a third office at 900-564 Beatty St., in a 5,500-square-foot space.

This location will offer 18 private offices as well as 16 dedicated desks and two meeting rooms.

“We started Pavilion because we believe in the power of local businesses – when they thrive, our cities thrive,” Kwee said in the announcement. “We’ve seen first-hand how the right space can spark ideas, partnerships, and real growth.

"With this expansion, we’re doubling down on our commitment to Canadian entrepreneurs, giving them the space and support to build something great.” 

Pavilion's residency program

In addition to the two new locations, Pavilion plans to relaunch its residency program, which offers free space to “Canada’s most promising startups and scale-ups” according to the announcement.

Pavilion is offering a total of eight free offices - three at Beatty Street and five in Calgary - for a period of four months. The firms will also receive a marketing support package.

“Building a business is tough enough – you shouldn’t have to do it alone,” Kwee said. “We’ve designed Pavilion to be more than just office space; it’s a place where community is built, ideas take shape, and local businesses get the boost they need. 

“With our expansion, we’re excited to welcome even more Canadian entrepreneurs into our community and help them take their businesses to the next level.” 

The residency program had been introduced at Pavilion’s first location, and has supported several local businesses, including Monos, Fable Home and Blume.

Applications for the residencies are open until May 15 for Vancouver and July 31 for Calgary. Interested companies can access additional details and apply on the company's website.