New Zealand Commercial Design Trends Series NZ Commercial Design Trends Vol. 33/04C | Page 47

‘my desk, or my office’, this approach creates a
team-based, egalitarian community, breaking down
communication barriers and stimulating productivity.
Further to this relaxed, activity-based workplace
approach, both floors have been stripped back to
allow for ease of movement and to achieve a visibly
connected workplace.
“We also introduced a large internal staircase,
offering a strong visual link as well as a circulation
link between floors,” Harris says.
“Fluid staff movement was an important part
of the design, in terms of collaboration, incidental
exercise, and socialising. And the open spaces,
broad corridors and large staircase facilitate this.”
Every part of the design works hard to contribute
to a multi-use environment. The large reception
with views out to the Sydney Harbour Bridge is part
of this and is located adjacent to a variety of con-
versational, desking and standing areas. All of these are designed so they can be swept to one side to
create a large, dynamic town hall environment.
So there are no barriers within the office except
a few dedicated meeting rooms, and in most cases
the areas of use are subtly and simply indicated by
dropped ceilings or even area carpet rugs. Both of
these elements also help deaden noise and so bring
a degree of privacy within the open-plan volumes.
Warm, reassuring tones on the carpets and
wood ceilings are offset by groupings of colourful
furniture, which can be swapped in or out to change
the look. The eye-catching iridescent blue on the
stairwell changes with the play of light – highlighting
this all-important social circulatory feature.
Project:Savills, Governor Phillip Tower, Sydney
Interior design:Futurespace
Fit-out company and project engineer:Buildcorp
Project engineer:Peter Hawkings, Futurespace
Partitioning:Plasterboard and stud partitioning
Window/door joinery:Maneto
Hardware:Barben Architectural Hardware
Flooring:Interface, Tretford, Aspire Rock, Polyflor
Wallcoverings: Vescom Tonga wallcovering from
Eurowalls; Pleat wallcovering from Kvadrat Maharam
Ceiling:Decor Systems
Veneers:Elton Group Paints:Dulux, Axolotl
Lighting:Wood mark by Luxmy, Stylecraft, ELS, HGFS,
Luxxbox, Euroluce, Koda
Workstations:Isatelliti from UniFor
Workstation task chairs:Gesture Task Chair in Liquorice
from Cognet Connect
Reception furniture:CULT, Own World, Living Edge
Additional furniture:Jardan, Schiavello, HGFS, Stylecraft,
Zenith, Designer Rugs
see more images: search
49916 at Trendsideas.com
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at Trendsideas.com
Facing page:A prime property
firm in a prime position, Savills
office reception and adjacent
hub has a circle-seat view of the
Sydney Harbour Bridge.
Right:Even the meeting rooms
have a transparent quality in a
fit-out that values connection and
equality over privacy and elitism.
Story by Charles Moxham
Photography by Nicole England
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