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A glorious achievement, a high-water mark in the history of our company happened at midnight on Tuesday the 17th of June 2025 when we finally installed the channel letter sign we made for WeWork twenty months earlier.
This installation took almost two years to complete because of endless bureaucracy, weather and technical issues, and WeWork’s own market instability. The company is still recovering from bankruptcy protection and refinancing. What better way to tell the world they’re back and ready for business than to hang-their-shingle above Bay Street?
Regarding Luxury Magazine Editorialized Our WeWork Sign Installation
Regarding Luxury magazine also feels this way, and Rob Campbell wrote a story entitled, WeWork Hangs their Brand on Bay Street which chronicles our sign installation adventure. The article has a link to our site and a picture of Avi Barak, our chief administrator who worked so hard to make the sign and fought so hard for its installation.
The magazine editorial discusses Toronto’s commercial real estate market and WeWork’s role in shaping the shared office alternative. We are so proud to have played a small part in this Canadian business history story which is worthy of someday being studied in our nation’s top universities and colleges. But that narrative, regardless of how detailed, probably won’t relate how long it took to install the sign.
What is the WeWork Sign?
The WeWork sign on Bay Street is a channel letter sign made by combining six letters which are approx. 50 cm in height. The letters have aluminum sides and acrylic faces. There are LEDs lights inside each one which are programmed to illuminate the sign at night. The whole assembly is mounted on an aluminum channel which is screwed to the bricks, ten stories above the street. The power unit for the sign is contained inside the building, out of the weather. The transformer is easily accessed on the wall directly behind the sign. The junction box feeds a low voltage line which powers the sign’s raceway to light up all six letters. Everything outside is weatherproof and will not require any maintenance for ten to fifteen years.
Why did it take so long to install the WeWork sign?
Back in November 2023, while Avi was still completing the piece and making arrangements for its installation, he was suddenly and abruptly informed of WeWork’s bankruptcy by his contact at the company. A week later, he was given legal notice as part of that process. Emails were passed back and forth for two months as everyone waited for the dust to settle, and the sign was put into storage for almost a year.
Once WeWork had glued itself back together again, Avi was asked to complete the initial contract. The exterior building sign was dusted off and prepared for installation, and renewed outreach arranged for site inspections as all parties coordinated their participation in the project. The building manager and his electrician, the site superintendent, and WeWork’s own managerial staff were involved from the start. The City of Toronto’s inspectors and permit staff, crane techs and two paid-duty police officers were other necessary parts of the equation.
From February 2025 until June 2025, the installation date was continually moved by a week or a month, or sometimes just a few days as one thing after another prevented the work from being scheduled. There was a long spell of bad weather, and other projects blocking Bay Street. A parade happened, and then the rental company’s crane had mechanical problems and needed parts, which caused more delay. But the wheels were set in motion, and on Tuesday the 17th of June 2025, the stars aligned.
The installation team had the greenlight from the city and perfect weather to complete the job. We had a paid duty police officer and permission to close one lane of traffic from 10pm until dawn. We used a heavy industrial crane with outriggers and parked at 357 Bay Street directly below the site.
The crane arm had to carry the installers approximately forty meters up into the air to reach the spot, ten stories above the street. Our three-man team, two in the bucket and one below, laboured all night to install the steel rack and bolt the letters into place.
Designing professional signage for tall buildings in a city skyline is challenging because viewers are literally everywhere and at every distance. The people to be impacted are driving cars, flying overhead and walking on the sidewalks below. The sign must catch their eyes and impress them no matter where they are situated, regardless of their perspective. Additionally, it has to be durable enough to withstand the wind, snow and nesting birds. It should require little or no cleaning and no maintenance for a decade or more.
Our Channel Letter Sign Will Impact Millions of People
There is perhaps no greater return on investment than exterior building signage and putting your brand at the top a tall building will pay dividends for a decade or more. When the history of the company is told in detail, many years from now, nobody will likely recall our triumph, but our company’s history is sure to highlight the WeWork sign on Bay Street and mark the achievement as a job well done.
Are you thinking about putting your logo on a tall building? Please give us a call and let’s discuss the project and how we can reshape the skyline to showcase your brand.